Her research focuses on the history of late antique religions and society (ca. 300-700 CE), especially on the intersection between classical Roman culture and early Christianity. Her current work explores the relation of Christianity to the domestic sphere and household management. She has published articles on the cubiculum in Christian texts,on Roman bishops and households in the gesta martyrum, and is finishing a book on the relationship between aristocratic domestic life and the development of the Roman Church (The Household and the Papacy in Late Antiquity, forthcoming with Cambridge University Press). Before arriving at OSU in 2007, Professor Sessa taught for three years in the Department of History at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, CA. She has received various grants and awards, and has been a fellow at both the American Academy in Rome (2001-2002) and the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America at Columbia University (2006-2007).