Scholars@Duke

• Background
• 

  Education, Training, & Certifications

  • Ph.D., Yale University 1992
• 

  Previous Appointments & Affiliations

  • Chair of Classical Studies, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2017 - 2021
  • Director of Graduate Studies Classical Studies, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2017
  • Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Classical Studies, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2011 - 2014
  • Visiting Associate Prof in Classical Studies, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2009
• Recognition
• 

  In the News

  • JUN 12, 2020

    Johnson to lead Humanities for Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

  • MAY 31, 2019

    Duke Magazine

    Classical Studies Shows Its Staying Power
• 

  Awards & Honors

  • Dean’s commendation on teaching excellence, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2019. Duke University. 2019
  • Charles A. Ryskamp Fellowship, (2005-06). American Council of Learned Societies. 2005
  • Center for Hellenic Studies Fellow (2003-04, declined). CHS. 2003
  • National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellowship (2003-04). NEH. 2003
  • National Humanities Center Fellow (2003-04, declined). NHC. 2003
  • Gildersleeve Prize (2000). American Journal of Philology (best article of the year). 2000
• Expertise
• 

  Subject Headings

  • Athens (Greece)--Intellectual life
  • Books and reading
  • Libraries
  • Literature and society
  • Manuscripts, Greek (papyri)
  • Music, Greek and Roman
  • Readers
  • Second Sophistic movement
• Research
• 

  Selected Grants

  • Supporting the Arts at Duke awarded by Mary Duke Biddle Foundation 2023
• Publications & Artistic Works
• 

  Selected Publications

  • Books

    • Johnson, W., and D. Richter, eds. Oxford Handbook to the Second Sophistic. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
    • Johnson, W., and D. Richter, eds. Oxford Handbook to the Second Sophistic. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
    • Johnson, W. The Essential Herodotus. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
    • Johnson, W. A. Readers and Reading Culture in the High Roman Empire: A Study of Elite Communities, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195176407.001.0001.
       Full Text
    • Johnson, W. Ancient Literacies: The Culture of Reading in Greece and Rome. Edited by W. A. Johnson and H. Parker. Oxford University Press, 2009.
    • Johnson, W. A. Bookrolls and scribes in oxyrhynchus, 2003.

  • Academic Articles

    • Johnson, W. A. “Typological Catalogue of the ancient Roman Scribal Tool Known as a Bone Rule.” Journal of Open Archaeology Data 11 (January 1, 2023). https://doi.org/10.5334/joad.97.
       Full Text
    • Johnson, W. “Imperial Pantomime and Satoshi Miyagi’s Medea.” Didaskalia 13 (2017): 76–90.
       Open Access Copy  Link to Item
    • Johnson, W. “Ptolemaic Mummy Stuffings, 3: The Documentary Texts (Beinecke P.CtYBR inv. 5058, 5059, 5060, 5061, 5062, 5063) (Accepted).” Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik, 2017.
    • Johnson, W. “Isidora to Apollonia: a Private Letter in the Beinecke Collection (P.CtYBR inv. 5044) (Accepted).” Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik, 2017.
    • Johnson, W. “Ptolemaic Mummy Stuffings: An Intriguing Scholar’s Text in the Yale Collection (P.CtYBR 5018).” Archiv Für Papyrusforschung 62, no. 1 (2016).
       Open Access Copy
    • Johnson, W. “Ptolemaic Mummy Stuffings, 2: A Comic Fragment and Grammatical Text in the Yale Collection (P.CtYBR inv. 5019, 5043).” Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik 199 (2016).
       Open Access Copy
    • Johnson, W. A. “Pliny Epistle. 9.36 and Demosthenes' Cave.” Classical World, 2013, 665–68.
    • Johnson, W. “Voice in the whirlwind.” Georgia Review 66, no. 1 (March 1, 2012): 90–103.
    • Johnson, W. A. “The Oxyrhynchus Distributions in America: Papyri and Ethics (Accepted).” Basp, 2012.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Cicero and Tyrannio: Mens addita videtur meis aedibus (ad Atticum iv.8.2).” Classical World 105, no. 4 (2012): 471–77.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Review of Roger Bagnall, Everyday Writing in the Graeco-Roman East.” Basp 49 (2012).
    • Johnson, W. A. “Teaching the Children How to Read: The Syllabary.” Classical Journal 103 (2010): 445–63.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Hesiod's Theogony: Reading the Proem as a Priamel.” Greek, Roman, and  Byzantine Studies 46 (2008): 231–35.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Review of Larry W. Hurtado, The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins (Eerdmans 2006).” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 44 (2007): 249–51.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Review of Melissa M. Terras. Image to Interpretation. An Intelligent System to Aid Historians in Reading the Vindolanda Texts (Oxford 2006).” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 44 (2007): 245–47.
    • Johnson, W. A. “The Story of the Papyri of the Villa dei Papiri.” Journal of Roman Archaeology 19 (2006): 493–96.
    • Johnson, William. “Voice over IP: how computing technology is being used in mobile communications.” Journal of Healthcare Information Management : Jhim 19, no. 4 (January 2005): 24–31.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Review of M.L. West, Ancient Greek Music (Oxford University Press, 1992) and Egert Pöhlmann, M.L. West, Documents of Ancient Greek Music (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001).” Bryn Mawr Classical Review, April 2003.
    • Johnson, W. A. “A colloquium on ancient music.” The Classical Review 53, no. 2 (January 1, 2003): 463–64. https://doi.org/10.1093/cr/53.2.463.
       Full Text
    • Johnson, W. A. “Review of Musique et poésie dans l’ antiquité (ed. G.-J. Pinault).” Classical Review 53 (2003): 463–64.
    • Johnson, W. A. “P.Hibeh II 193 (Iliad VI 4-7).” Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik 139 (2002): 1–2.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Toward a sociology of reading in classical antiquity.” American Journal of  Philology 121 (2000): 593–627.
    • Johnson, W. A. “New instrumental music from Graeco-Roman Egypt.” Bulletin of the American  Society of Papyrologists 37 (2000): 17–36.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Musical Evenings in the Early Empire: New Evidence from a Greek Papyrus with Musical Notation.” Journal of Hellenic Studies 120 (2000): 57–85.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Dramatic Frame and Philosophic Idea in Plato.” The American Journal of  Philology 119 (1998): 577–98.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Review of R. Cribiore, Writing, Teachers, and Students in Graeco-Roman Egypt.” Classical Philology 93 (1998): 276–79.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Computer Assisted Instruction in the Learning of Greek and Latin, with J. Conant et al.” Bryn Mawr Classical Review 95.02.11 (June 1995).
    • Babcock, Robert G., and W. A. Johnson. “The Appian Papyrus from Dura-Europus (P.Dura 2).” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 31 (1994): 85–88.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Oral Performance and the Composition of Herodotus' Histories.” Greek,  Roman, and Byzantine Studies 35 (1994): 229–54.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Macrocollum.” Classical Philology 89 (1994): 62–64.
    • Johnson, W. A. “The Function of the Paragraphus in Greek Literary Prose Texts.” Zeitschrift Für  Papyrologie Und Epigraphik 100 (1994): 65–68.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Towards an Electronic Greek Historical Lexicon.” Emerita 62 (1994): 253–61.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Pliny the Elder and Standardized Roll Heights in the Manufacture of Papyrus.” Classical Philology 88 (1993): 46–50.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Column Layout in Oxyrhynchus Literary Papyri: Maas's Law, Ruling and Alignment Dots.” Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik 96 (1993): 211–15.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Multiple Copies of Literary Papyri, Fiber Patterns, and P.Oxy. XLVIII 3376 fr. 44.” Zeitschrift Für  Papyrologie Und Epigraphik 93 (1992): 153–54.

  • Book Sections

    • Johnson, W. A. “The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Classicist's View.” In Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, 144:488–505, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004537804_016.
       Full Text
    • Johnson, W. “The Second Sophistic: Periodicity and Scope.” In The Oxford Handbook to the Second Sophistic, edited by W. Johnson and D. Richter, 1–10. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
    • Johnson, W. “The Second Sophistic: Periodicity and Scope.” In The Oxford Handbook to the Second Sophistic, edited by W. Johnson and D. Richter, 1–10. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Learning to Read and Write.” In Blackwell’s Companion to Ancient Education, edited by M. Bloomer, 2015.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Bookrolls as media.” In Comparative Textual Media: Transforming the Humanities in the Postprint Era, edited by N Kathrine Hayles and Jessica Pressman, 101–24, 2013.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Libraries and Reading Culture in the High Empire.” In Ancient Libraries, edited by Greg Woolf. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Constructing Elite Reading Communities in the High Empire.” In Ancient Literacies: The Culture of Reading in Greece and Rome, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199793983.003.0013.
       Full Text
    • Johnson, W. A. “The Ancient Book.” In The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology, edited by Roger Bagnall. Oxford University Press, 2009.
    • Johnson, W. A. “"Books," "Literacy," "Readers and Reading".” In Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, 2009.
    • Johnson, W. A. “The Posidippus Papyrus: Bookroll and Reader.” In The New Posidippus: A Hellenistic Poetry Book, edited by Kathryn Gutzwiller. Oxford University Press, 2005.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Greek Electronic Resources and the Lexicographical Function.” In Biblical Greek Language and Lexicography, 75–84. Eerdmans, 2004.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Reading cultures and education.” In Reading Between the Lines: New Perspectives on Foreign Language Literacies, edited by P. Patrikis. Yale University Press, 2002.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Percolare" and "percolere".” In Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, 10:cols.1215-1217, 1994.
    • Johnson, W. A. “Is Oratory Written on Narrower Columns? A Papyrological Rule of Thumb Reviewed.” In Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Papyrology (Copenhagen), 423–27, 1993.
• Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
• 

  Presentations & Appearances

  • From Bookroll to Codex. Mellon-Sawyer seminar, Cultural and Textual Exchanges: The Manuscript across pre-modern Eurasia. University of Iowa. December 2016  2016
  • Judaic and Christian Readers and Reading Cultures- A Response. The Reading Cultures of Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity: A Dialogue with William A. Johnson. SBL Conference. November 2016  2016
  • Ancient Magic and Ancient Literacies. Inscribing Power in Antiquity. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität. October 2016  2016
  • Imperial Pantomime and Satoshi Miyagi’s Medea. Music in the Time of Vergil. Villa Vergiliana. June 2016  2016
  • Triangulating Publication in Rome. Conference - Triangulationships: Between Authors, Readers, and Texts in Imperial Literature. Cambridge University. July 2015  2015
  • An Intriguing Ptolemaic Commentary in the Yale Collection. The North America Papyrology Seminar. University of Michigan. May 2015  2015
  • Publishing without Publishers in Ancient Rome and in New Media Today. Transitions in Reading and Writing. Consortium for the Study of the pre-Modern World, University of Minnesota. April 2015  2015
  • The Sociology of Publishing in Ancient Rome. Oral Literateness and Literate Orality. Stanford University. April 2015  2015
  • Ancient Literacy Reprised (Seminar Leader/co-organizer) . Society for Classical Studies, New Orleans. January 2015  2015
  • Publishing without Publishers in Ancient Rome and in New Media Today. Shanghai Normal University, China. November 2014  2014
  • Herodotus and his Readers. Fudan Unversity, Shanghai. October 2014  2014
  • Imperial Pantomime and Satoshi Miyagi's Medea. American Philological Association Meeting (Chicago). January 2014  2014
  • Publishing without Publishers: Books, Publication, and Community in Imperial Rome. Princeton University. October 2012  2012
  • Books and the Idea of Publication in Classical Antiquity. Writing Europe before 1450. University of Bergen, Norway. June 2012  2012
  • The History of Books and Reading in Greco-Roman Antiquity (Panel Organizer/Moderator). Association of Ancient Historians. May 2012  2012
  • Imagining the Great Library of Alexandria: Cultural History and the Reconstruction of Antiquity. Franklin and Marshall College. April 2012  2012
  • Publishing without Publishers: Books, Publication, and Community in Ancient Rome and Today. Harvard University. October 2011  2011
  • Two Things. Dickinson College. September 2011  2011
  • Libraries and Reading Culture in the High Empire. The Philological Society. Johns Hopkins University. November 2010  2010
  • Teaching and the Literary Papyri. University of Michigan. November 2010  2010
  • Herodotus and his Readers. Cornell University. November 2009  2009
  • Publication, Text, and Community. Conference, Reclaiming the Past, Envisioning the Future. University of California, Irvine. September 2009  2009
  • Libraries and Reading Culture in the High Empire. Conference - Ancient Libraries. University of St Andrews, Scotland. September 2008  2008
  • Constructing Elite Reading Communities in Rome. American School for Classical Studies. November 2007  2007
  • Constructing Elite Reading Communities in Rome. Indiana University, Bloomington. October 2007  2007
  • Scholars’ Texts and Reading Communities. Classics Lecture Society (annual speaker elected by the Classics graduate students). . University of Chicago. November 2006  2006
  • Constructing Elite Reading Communities in Rome. Distinguished Classics Alumnus Lecture. Oberlin College. October 2006  2006
  • Constructing Elite Reading Communities in the High Empire. Semple Symposium, Constructing Literacy among the Greeks and Romans. University of Cincinnati. April 2006  2006
  • Semple Symposium, Constructing Literacy among the Greeks and Romans (Organizer/Convener). April 2006  2006
  • Seminar: Ancient Greek Music. University of California, Berkeley. October 2003  2003
  • The Posidippus Papyrus: Bookroll and Reader. University of California, Berkeley. October 2003  2003
  • The Posidippus Papyrus: Bookroll and Reader. University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana. April 2003  2003
  • Bookrolls, readers, and the Posidippus papyrus. The New Posidippus, a Semple Symposium . University of Cincinnati. November 2002  2002
  • Commentary on Plato. Panel on Plato as a Literary Author. American Philological Association . January 2002  2002
  • Scholars and readers in Greco-Roman Egypt. Conference, Editing Ancient Texts. University of Toronto. October 2001  2001
  • From papyrus to song: the discovery of two new fragments of ancient Greek music. Ohio University . October 2000  2000
  • New discoveries in ancient Greek music. Bowling Green State University . April 2000  2000
  • Did the Greeks and Romans read silently or aloud?. Rutgers University . February 1999  1999
  • A New Greek Musical Papyrus (Beinecke CtYBR inv. 4510). American Society of Papyrologists session . American Philological Association . December 1998  1998
  • Musical Evenings in the Early Empire: New Evidence from a Greek Papyrus with Musical Notation. Cornell University . November 1998  1998
  • Reading Cultures and Education. Transformations: Technology, Foreign Languages, and Undergraduate Education. Yale University and MIT . October 1998  1998
  • Paradigm Shifts: The Sociology of Reading in Ancient Greece and in Today's Computer Age. Anthos: A Symposium in honor of Nathan A. Greenberg. Oberlin College . September 1998  1998
  • A new papyrus with musical notation: P. CtYBR 4510. Greco-Roman lunch. Calhoun College, Yale University . December 1996  1996
  • Classics, Computers, and Pedagogy (Panel Organizer/Moderator). American Philological Association Meeting, New York. December 1996  1996
  • When is a poem a poem? The Augustan poetry book and problems of poem division in Propertius and Ovid. Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. February 1996  1996
  • Classics and the Internet (Panel Organizer/Moderator). American Philological Association Meeting, San Diego. December 1995  1995
  • Greek Electronic Resources and the Lexicographical Function. Panel on Resources for Biblical Lexicography at annual meeting . Society for Biblical Literature . November 1995  1995
  • Oral Performance and the Composition of Herodotus' Histories. Classics Department colloquium. University of California, Irvine. May 1994  1994
  • Towards an Electronic Greek Historical Lexicon. Conference on Greek and Latin Lexicography. University of California, Irvine. December 1993  1993
  • The Aesthetic of the Luxury Book Roll. Conference on the Greek and Roman Book. University of Minnesota. October 1993  1993
  • Is Oratory Written on Narrower Columns? A Papyrological Rule of Thumb Reviewed. 20th International Congress of Papyrology, Copenhagen. August 1992  1992
  • A Computer for the Classics: The Design Philosophy of the Ibycus Scholarly Personal Computer. Oberlin College . April 1989  1989
• 

  Service to the Profession

  • Member, Professional Societies. American Philological Association (life member) • American Society of Papyrologists • Association internationale de papyrologues • Egypt Exploration Society • Phi Beta Kappa. 2015  2015
  • Associate Editor. Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. 2010 - 2016  2010 - 2016
  • Board of Directors, Secretary-Treasurer. American Society of Papyrologists. 2000 - 2016  2000 - 2016
  • Board of Directors. Packard Humanities Institute. 1996 - 2016  1996 - 2016
• 

  Service to Duke

  • Duke/DKU. DKU EVC Search Committee. 2015  2015
  • Duke/DKU. Humanities Curriculum subcommittee, LACC; Steering Committee, LACC. 2015  2015
  • Chair of Faculty, Duke Kunshan University. DKU. 2014 - 2015  2014 - 2015
  • Duke University/DKU. Liberal Arts in China Committee. 2014 - 2016  2014 - 2016
  • Director of Graduate Studies, Classical Studies Department. 2011 - 2014  2011 - 2014
  • Humanities Writ Large Steering Committee. 2011 - 2014  2011 - 2014

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