Krista N. Dalton 

I am a cultural historian of religion, working primarily with the texts and traditions of ancient Judaism within the Mediterranean context.  

In 2019 I received my Ph.D. in Religion from Columbia University, where I specialized in ancient Judaism. From 2018 to 2026 I taught Religious Studies at Kenyon College. As of July 2026, I will be Associate Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. In addition, I serve as an Editor-in-Chief of the digital journal Ancient Jew Review, Co-Editor of Theoria book series with Fordham Press, and Vice President of Membership and Outreach on the Executive Committee of the Association for Jewish Studies.

My first book entitled How Rabbis Became Experts (Princeton University Press, 2025) analyzes the social processes by which the rabbis of late ancient Roman Palestine forged valuable relationships with their Jewish communities. My second and current book project, entitled The Rabbi: a Cultural History (Princeton University Press), offers a broad survey of the profession of rabbis from antiquity to modernity. I am also co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Rabbinic Literature and a volume devoted to Sages, Magicians, and Poets in honor of Michael Swartz.