Laurie Venters
PhD Researcher
Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies
Research Associate in Research Area E Gender (and Intersectionality)
Adenauerallee 18–22
D-53113 Bonn
lventers@uni-bonn.de
Academic Profile
Love Competition:
The Sexual Agency of Female Slaves in Ancient Rome and China
I am a comparative historian focusing on female slaves and concubines in the Roman Empire and Han China. More precisely, my research explores the gender-specific ways bondswomen were able to resist their subjugation or advance their social status and material condition. The 'sexual agency' of female slaves and other asymmetric dependents can be witnessed in a variety of ancient Roman and Chinese sources. Slaves living under both empires were, at times, able to exercise considerable autonomy, allowing them to deploy strategies of resistance or execute plans for societal elevation. Through my research, I hope to show that enslaved women and girls were not always passive victims but conscious actors who frequently, no matter the odds, carved out social existences distinct from their master.
2019–2022
Ph.D. in Ancient History, University of Bonn, Germany
2018–2019
M.A. Ancient History, University of Leiden, Netherlands
2012–2016
B.A. History, Royal Holloway University of London, UK
2019–present
Research Associate in Research Area E Gender (and Intersectionality), University of Bonn, Germany