Todd French, PhD
Professor of Religion
My work focuses primarily on early Christian narrative and its impact on late antique history. I am especially interested in how Greek and Syriac hagiographical narratives became a primary avenue in early Byzantium for education, commemoration, and theological debate. My current research interests include the history of asceticism and its impact on contemporary social life. At Rollins, I serve as professor of religion and chair of religion.
Education
BA, Lipscomb University
MDiv, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
STM, Princeton Theological Seminary
PhD, Columbia University
Courses Taught
Undergraduate
Extremes of Religion (RFLA 100)
Christianity: Thought and Practice (REL 218)
Graduate
Religion and Western Culture (MLS 603)
Saints and Sinners (MLS 515)
Recent Publications
French, Todd E. With Mohammad Forero Bucheli. Comparative Methods for Teaching Contemporary and Ancient Saints. Religions, 15(2), 238, 2024. Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020238
French, Todd E. Hagiographical Compilation as Literature: Receiving Saints, Recrafting Heroes, Redeploying Theologies. In The Hagiographical Experiment: Developing Discourses of Sainthood, edited by James Corke-Webster and Christa Gray, 199-227. Vigiliae Christianae, Supplements, Vol. 158. Brill, 2020. Link: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004421332_009
French, Todd E. Saints across Traditions and Time Periods: Methods for Increasing Range and Reading in Comparative Frameworks. Religions, 10(10), 577, 2019. Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10100577
French, Todd E. Just Deserts: Origen’s Lingering Influence on Divine Justice in the Hagiographies of John of Ephesus. Studia Patristica, XCII, 105-112, 2017. Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.35841797.13
French, Todd E. Many Truths, One Story: John of Ephesus’s “Lives of the Eastern Saints”. In Hagiography and Religious Truth: Case Studies in the Abrahamic and Dharmic Traditions, 151-168. Bloomsbury Academic. Link: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/hagiography-and-religious-truth-9781350065284/
News & Features
March 31, 2025
Rollins Inducts 24 New Members of Phi Beta Kappa
A select group of Rollins students has joined the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, placing them among the top 1 percent of college scholars in the U.S.
March 21, 2025
Rollins Museum of Art Collaborates with Hume House Child Development Center
David Matteson, an associate curator of education for Rollins Museum of Art, and Alice Davidson, executive director of Rollins Child Development Center and a professor of Psychology, were interviewed on Central Florida Public Media's Engage about the Symbolic Languages Exhibit. (at 39:01)
October 11, 2024
Psychology Professor Provides Expertise on Children Developing a Love for Reading
Alice Davidson, a psychology professor and Director of the Hume House College Child Development and Student Research Center, provided expert commentary to Parents.com on teaching your child to develop a love for reading.
December 13, 2023
Psychology Professor Shares Research on Gentle Parenting in New York Magazine
Alice Davidson, a professor of psychology, shared her research on "gentle parenting" with New York Magazine's -The Cut.
May 11, 2022
A Professor of Psychology Addresses Social-Emotional Learning
Alice Davidson, a professor of psychology, discusses social-emotional learning and the Florida Department of Education’s review of math textbooks.
April 21, 2022
Psychology Professor Provides Commentary on Social Emotional Learning
Psychology professor Alice Davidson discusses Florida’s ban on math textbooks that promote social emotional learning.