Academic Bio
Nicholas is a Canadian Sumerologist who focuses on magic, literature, and scholarship, especially in the early periods of Mesopotamian history. After studying Classics at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Nicholas completed a MA and a PhD in Assyriology at Johns Hopkins University and graduated with a dissertation focusing on the Sumerian and Akkadian incantations dating to the Old Babylonian period (ca. 2003–1595 BCE). Before joining ISAC, Nicholas won an Italian research fellowship and joined the Programma Nazionale di Ricerca e Progetti di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale project “Mapping and Annotating Plots (MAP): The Multimodality of Cadastral Plans in Antiquity (Babylonia and Rome)” based at Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia. During his time in Venice, Nicholas edited Late Babylonian and Achaemenid period documents featuring field plans alongside Paola Corò and her team while continuing to pursue his own research.
In line with his specialization in ancient magic and ritual, Nicholas co-organized the inaugural “Current Research on Mesopotamian Magic” workshop of the 70th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale held at Prague in July 2025 and regularly collaborates with the MagEIA project of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. At Chicago, Nicholas works as part of the Nippur Tablet Project with Susanne Paulus and the Tablet Collection team to research and publish the inscribed materials of the Tablet Collection, as well as catalogue and digitize cuneiform tablets. He is additionally involved in the development of ISAC’s planned Nippur Tablet Project website and regularly teaches Akkadian courses focusing on a wide array of genres, dialects, and historical periods.
Recent & Regularly Taught Courses
- AKKD 10503 Introduction to Old Babylonian (III)
- AKKD 20605 Intermediate Akkadian: Ishtar’s Descent to the Netherworld