New Books in History Ellen Muehlberger, "Things Unseen: Essays on Evidence, Knowledge, and the Late Ancient World" (U California Press, 2025)
15 snips
Nov 11, 2025 
Ellen Muehlberger, a Professor of History at the University of Michigan, explores the intimate knowledge ancient peoples had of one another in her new work. She discusses how public culture and rituals reinforced Christian power in late antiquity, and examines the social dynamics behind classroom role-playing and male dominance. Muehlberger tackles fascinating concepts like the 'Superfather' in early church authority, and how crowd surveillance served as evidence of belief, while also emphasizing the challenges and joys of presenting historical narratives.
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Ways Of Knowing As A Lens
- Approaching other cultures as different systems of knowing reveals salient priorities we otherwise miss.
- This prevents judging past people by modern scientific progress and opens new questions about causality and agency.
Rhetorical Exercises In Schools
- Students learned rhetoric via 10–12 classroom exercises that included composing in first person as specific characters.
- Teachers and peers evaluated these performances and reinforced conventional character templates.
How Play-Acting Produces Ignorance
- Play-acting as marginal figures produces a 'resilient ignorance' that normalizes stereotypes.
- This practice helps dominant groups maintain political and emotional distance from subordinated people.
