James Gilmer

F8 James Gilmer (CARDIFF UNI)

James Gilmer is a doctoral candidate at Cardiff University (UK), working under the supervision of Shaun Tougher and Laurence Totelin. He holds an MA in Ancient and Classical History from the American Public University (APUS), a Masters in Humanities from Wright State University, and a Masters in Library and Information Sciences from Kent State University. His main research interests include the intersections between traditional Hippocratic medicine in Byzantium, medical miracles presented in hagiography, and the use of amulets and other forms of magic in the healing process. Likewise, he is particularly interested in the role of gender in the protrayal of suffering, the methods of healing chosen, and the methods in which imperial Byzantine men and women engaged with the healthcare system during the middle Byzantine period. His research project, entitled ‘Byzantine Imperial Women in Narratives of Illness and Healing’, focuses upon the association between Byzantine empresses, princesses, and imperial women with medicine and suffering during the middle Byzantine period. As part of his research he is examining the interrelationships between literary genres with the goal of demonstrating the gendered aspects of suffering and the healing process.