Staff Profiles

I am a Classical Archaeologist working to develop and promote the Shefton Collection of Greek and Etruscan Archaeology at the Great North Museum: Hancock. My research focuses primarily on Attic red-figure pottery and the long history of collecting and collections. I have published and exhibited on the collection, and supervise a number of PhD candidates working in related topics (see 'Research' tab). I teach a range of undergraduate and postgraduate classes across Classics, Archaeology and History (see 'Teaching' tab). 

Current and Ongoing Projects

Voicing Objects and The Way my Body Feels - with Dr Olivia Turner.

Material Culture of Infant Feeding - With Dr April Pudsey I am preparing to publish details and analysis of infant feeding bottles from Antiquity, in the Great North Museum: Hancock and a number of other international collections. 

The Shefton Archive Project - I am leading a large ongoing project, relating to the history of one of the U.K.'s largest collections of Greek and Etruscan archaeology. The project aims to uncover the complete history of the collection, and to reconstruct an intellectual biography of its founder. The project will collate and disseminate the late Professor Brian Shefton's personal archive of correspondence, slides, scholarly materials and items pertaining to the history of his collection. 

Community Curriculum Project - A collaboration with CfLaT, the Great North Museum: Hancock , West Jesmond Primary School and Belsay School to create a curriculum for teaching Ancient Greece at Key Stage 2. Resources available on the new Explore the Past with Us website. 

Research, Conferences, Exhibitions and Events

Voicing Objects and The Way My Body Feels

An ongoing collaboration with Dr Olivia Turner.

Shining a Light on Women and Children in Antiquity

AHRC CapCo funded project.

Material Culture of Infant Feeding 

Along with Dr April Pudsey I am preparing to publish details and analysis of infant feeding bottles from Antiquity, in the Great North Museum: Hancock.

Re-collecting Cypriot Antiquity

In collaboration with Anna Reeve, Leeds University, I have been researching objects in the Kent Collection, Harrogate, which previously belonged to Thomas Sandwith, the British Vice-Consul on Cyprus from 1865-1870.

A. Reeve and S. Waite (2021) 'Re-collecting Cypriot Antiquity: The Kent Collection in Harrogate.' Journal of the History of Collections. 

The Shefton Archive Project

I am leading a large ongoing project, relating to the history of one of the U.K.'s largest collections of Greek and Etruscan archaeology which is currently housed in the GNM. The project aims to uncover the complete history of the collection, and to reconstruct an intellectual biography of its founder. The project will collate and disseminate the late Professor Brian Shefton's personal archive of correspondence, slides, scholarly materials and items pertaining to the history of his collection.

Community Curriculum Project 

A collaboration with CfLaT, the Great North Museum: Hancock, West Jesmond Primary School and Belsay School to create a curriculum for teaching Ancient Greece at Key Stage 2. Resources available on the new Explore the Past with Us website. 

• The Legacy of Ancient Greece
• Reimagining Ancient Greece

Previous Research Projects

• Etruscan Art and Archaeology in the Shefton Study Collection
• Regional Survey of Greek Material in the North East
• Shefton Cataloguing Project
• Community Curriculum: Employing Artefacts in the Hospital-Based Education of Children

Conferences

• On the Fascination of Objects: Greek & Etruscan Art in the Shefton Collection The resulting book is published by Oxbow.
• Shoes, Slippers and Sandals: Feet and Footwear in Antiquity - This international conference, held in conjunction with the Great North Museum: Hancock, brought together scholars of Classics, Archaeology and Ancient History, the publication co-edited with Dr Sadie Pickup is now published by Routledge. 

Exhibitions

• 2024 Voicing Objects, Great North Museum
• 2023 Shining a Light on Children in Antiquity Digital exhibition in collaboration with the Great North Museum
• 2022-2023 You Echo Through Time, Great North Museum
• 2022 The Way My Body Feels Great North Museum 
• 2021 Stories from the Archive Digital exhibition in collaboration with the Great North Museum
• 2020 Greece Recreated Digital exhibition in collaboration with the Great North Museum and English Heritage
• 2019 Collecting Classical Antiquity: Brian B. Shefton 100 Years, Great North Museum
• 2019 Shoes, Slippers and Sandals: Footwear through the Ages, Great North Museum
• 2018 Reimagining Ancient Greece, Belsay Hall, Northumberland
• 2017 Community Curriculum in Action, Great North Museum 
• 2015 Beyond Frontiers, Great North Museum and Jesmond Library
• 2014 Acquiring Antiquity, Royal Pump Rooms Museum, Harrogate
• 2013 On the Fascination of Objects, Great North Museum

PhD Supervision

I am currently lead supervising two PhD students:

Emily Jayne Knights: Material identities of women in Athens from 5^th-3^rd BC: an intersectional analysis of gender, ageing and social identities in the extended life course.

Zoe Stokes-Paizis: Gender Ideologies in Classical Athens: Feminine Imagery on Perfume and Cosmetics Vessels (5^th – 4^th centuries BCE).

COMPLETED 2016

Monica Haysom: The Little Metropolis Festival Calendar Frieze: A Study of Reason and Religion in Late Hellenistic Athenian Society

COMPLETED 2019

Nigel Porter: Images of Warrior Departure on Athenian Painted Pottery 600-400 BC

COMPLETED 2021

Emma Gooch: The Material Culture of Children in Ancient Greece: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Identity

COMPLETED 2023

Daisy-Alys Vaughan: The Shefton Vases: Diversifying a Collection’s History Through Extended Object Biographies

Teaching

Undergraduate

• ARA3121 Sex, Bodies and Identities in Classical Greece

Contributions to:

• CAH2009 Portfolio in Ancient History
• HIS2322 Diversities of Sexuality and Gender in History

I supervise dissertations in Classical Studies, Ancient History and Ancient History and Archaeology.

Postgraduate

• ARA8129 Sex, Bodies and Identities in Classical Greece
• CAH8016 Graduate Seminar in Greek Archaeology

Contributions to:

• ARA8190 Themes, Theories and Methods in Archaeology

I supervise dissertations and independent studies in topics related to Greek art and archaeology.

• Articles

  • Waite S, Gooch E. Marginalising Maternity: Iconography as Evidence for Social Ideologies in Classical Athens. Childhood in the Past 2023, 16(2), 84-109.
  • Reeve A, Waite S. Re-collecting Cypriot antiquity: the Kent collection in Harrogate. Journal of the History of Collections 2021, 33(2), 359-372.

• Authored Book

  • Waite S. Acquiring Antiquity: Greek and Cypriot Pottery from the Harrogate Collection. Harrogate Borough Council, 2014.

• Book Chapters

  • Turner O, Waite S. Corporeal Pedagogy: Visualizing Anatomy Through Art, Archaeology, and Medicine. In: Shapiro, L, ed. Graphic Medicine, Humanizing Healthcare and Novel Approaches in Anatomical Education. Cham: Springer, 2023, pp.231-249.
  • Waite S, Gooch E. Sandals on the Wall: The Symbolism of Footwear on Athenian Painted Pottery. In: Pickup,S; Waite,S, ed. Shoes, Slippers and Sandals: Feet and Footwear in Classical Antiquity. Routledge, 2019, pp.17-89.
  • Waite S. Ancient Art in a Museum Context: The Kent Collection of Greek and Cypriot Pottery in Harrogate. In: Rodríguez Perez, D, ed. Greek Art in Context. London: Routledge, 2017.
  • Waite S. ‘A Red-Figure Kalathos in the Shefton Collection’. In: Boardman, J; Parkin, A; Waite, S, ed. On the Fascination of Objects: Greek and Etruscan Art in the Shefton Collection. Oxbow Books, 2015.
  • Waite S. ‘The Shefton Pan Painter Pelike’. In: Kaltas, N; Shaprio A, ed. Worshiping Women. Ritual and Reality in Classical Athens. Onassis Foundation, 2008.

• Edited Books

  • Pickup S, Waite S, ed. Shoes, Slippers and Sandals: Feet and Footwear in Classical Antiquity. Routledge, 2019.
  • Boardman J, Parkin A, Waite S, ed. On the Fascination of Objects: Greek and Etruscan Art in the Shefton Collection. Oxbow Books, 2015.

• Review

  • Waite S. Review of Daehner (J.) (ed.) The Herculaneum Women. History, Context, Identities. Classical Review 2009, 59.2, 592-594.