Photo by Katie Siegel
Thomas is a Master of Arts Program in the Humanities student at the University of Chicago, where they are on the Two-year Language Option track. He is studying sexuality in ancient West Asia and North Africa and Middle Egyptian language.
Prior of UChicago, Thomas attended Rutgers University - New Brunswick, where he studied Religion, Theater Arts, and Archaeology. They received departmental honors in both Religion and Theater Arts. His primary academic interest is the culture of ancient west Asia, with a particular focus on the archaeology and literature of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Israel/Judah. As part of the departmental honors in Religion, they completed a thesis project, entitled Embracing Companions and Comrades: An Exploration of "Queer" Interactions in Ancient Judah, Egypt, and the Mesopotamian Milieu, which sought to reanalyze and recontextualize traditional understandings of ancient west Asian archaeological and literary data, with a specific lens of queered reinterpretation.
Prior to attending university, Thomas spent over five years as a homeschooler/unschooler in New York City. He has been stage managing professionally since he was fifteen years old, and doing lighting design professionally since he was seventeen years old. Much of this work has been with The Firebird Project and Theater of the Apes, as well as Cabaret Theatre at Rutgers University.
When they’re not working or studying, Thomas is an avid reader of pretty much anything, but they have a particular love for ancient myths and epics, interesting nonfiction works, and the fantastical works of Terry Pratchett, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Brandon Sanderson.