Professor Caldwell received a Ph.D in Classical Studies from the University of Michigan with a thesis on the carbonized papyrus documents from Petra, Jordan. Subsequently Professor Caldwell helped edit the Petra papyri as a postdoctoral researcher funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Most recently Professor Caldwell was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Wesleyan University where he taught a variety of courses on the ancient world.

Professor Caldwell believes the study of antiquity remains worthwhile and strives to ensure that the Greeks and Romans remain comprehensible to all students. He enjoys the challenge of helping students understand the remarkable similarities and, perhaps more often, the jarring differences between ancient and modern experience. Introducing students to the evidence from the ancient world and helping them to confront and analyze this evidence for themselves, he finds to be one of the most satisfying aspects of teaching.