Religious studies professor receives competitive NEH grant to research early Christian martyr texts

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded University of Richmond professor Stephanie Cobb a $6,000 summer stipend grant to support her work for a book about early Christian martyr texts. The program is highly competitive; only about 7 percent of applications are funded each year.

Cobb, the George and Sallie Cutchin Camp Professor of the Bible in the Department of Religious Studies, is researching and writing “Divine Analgesia: Discourses of Pain and Painlessness in Early Christian Martyr Texts.” The book examines the rhetorical tools by which early Christian martyr texts claim that Christian bodies are immune to the pain of torture. “This immunity is purported to be a result of divine action or miracle: God shields the Christian from feeling the pain inflicted by persecutors,” said Cobb.

Cobb has taught at the university since 2011. She received a Ph.D. in religious studies from UNC-Chapel Hill.

The National Endowment for the Humanities summer stipends provide two months of full-time summer support for individuals pursuing advanced research in the humanities that is of value to scholars and/or general audiences.

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