Contact details
- Name:
- Dr Elisa Groff
- Position:
- Early Career Research Associate
- Institute:
- Institute of Classical Studies
- Email address:
- Elisa.Groff@sas.ac.uk
- Website:
- https://ics.sas.ac.uk/people/dr-elisa-groff
Research Summary and Profile
- Research interests:
- Classics
- Summary of research interests and expertise:
-
My research interests concern the interaction between medicine, gender and religion in different cultural contexts of health and beyond stereotypes. My research is dedicated to addressing issues of physical, mental and social wellbeing in relation to women’s sexuality, ageing, nutrition and infant mortality through the interpretation of shifting patterns of health conditions and therapies. My doctorate (Exeter, 2019) examined aspects of women’s wellbeing in relation to sexuality and reproduction in sixth-century Byzantine Christianity. The work was experimental, since my methodology was grounded in ancient hagiographical accounts and contemporary medical writings, and in the WHO categories of sexual and reproductive health.
As a research associate at the ICS, I will work on the publication of my doctoral thesis that has been selected for the First ReMeDHe Book Workshop in May 2020 in Chicago. I will also work on a few forthcoming contributions for edited books dealing e.g. with women’s genital surgical procedures in cosmetic treatises, sexual violence in narratives of both ancient and modern female martyrdom, and investigating the linkage between female sexuality and ageing. The focus of my work lies in the divulgation of scientific and religious knowledge from antiquity into later times. As a trained classicist and human osteologist with working experience in funerary excavations and in the morgue, I am committed to bridging the gap between historians and medical professionals. Therefore, I am extremely keen to engage with academic and non-academic groups in higher education and public talks in order to deliver research themes which are relevant to people and patient groups.