Kyle Harper is an American historian and classicist who specializes in ancient history, particularly that of ancient Rome. He is a professor of classics and letters at the University of Oklahoma (OU), and holds the G.T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty. Harper was provost of OU from 2014 to 2020.
Kyle Harper was born on December 29, 1979, in Norman, Oklahoma. [1] In 2001 he graduated from the University of Oklahoma (OU) with a bachelor's degree in letters. [2] In his final year of college Harper was named one of Oklahoma's two finalists for a Rhodes Scholarship. [3] He went on to earn a MA (2003) and PhD (2007) from Harvard University. [2]
Upon graduating from Harvard, Harper was hired as an assistant professor at OU. [2] [4] In 2009 he was named the founding director of OU's Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage. [5] He was promoted to be a full professor of classics and letters in 2014. [2]
Harper also worked in university administration and was provost of the university from 2014 to 2020. After stepping down as provost, he returned to the university's academic faculty. [6] In 2021, Harper was named the G.T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty. [2]
Harper's four books are: Slavery in the Late Roman World, AD 275-425 (2011), [7] From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality in Late Antiquity (2013), [8] The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire (2017), [9] and Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History (2021). [10]
Harper has been married since 2007, and as of 2015 had two children. [5] In 2015, Harper and his wife were confirmed as members of the Episcopal Church. [1]
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