Skip to main content

Staff Profile

Staff Profile

Dr John Holton

Director of Education (HCA), Lecturer in Ancient History

  • Email: john.holton@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0)191 208 3132
  • Address: School of History, Classics and Archaeology
    Newcastle University
    Armstrong Building
    Queen Victoria Road
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU
    United Kingdom

    Office: Armstrong 2.21
Background

Biography

I am an ancient historian interested in a range of historical and literary matters. Coming from a working-class background, I am passionate about teaching and reaching out to students from a diverse range of backgrounds. I am also committed to the continual enhancement of student learning, both in actual practice and in the adminstration of programmes. All of these things I consider to be centrally important components of my academic career.

Originally from Bradford, West Yorkshire, I moved to Devon at age 10, before relocating to Wales for my BA and MA, then to Scotland for my doctorate. I now live and work in the north-east of England.

2005-8: BA (Hons) Ancient History, First Class, Swansea University

2008-9: MA Ancient History & Classical Culture, Distinction, Swansea University

2010-14: PhD Classics, University of Edinburgh

2014-15: Postdoctoral Fellow in Classics, University of Edinburgh

2015--: Lecturer in Ancient History, Newcastle University

2017--: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy 


Current roles, responsibilities, and memberships (2020-21)

Member of advisory group for subject benchmark statement review (Classics & Ancient History), Quality Assurance Agency

Academic lead for VLEs (Canvas), Newcastle University

Member of Technology Enhanced Learning Sub-Committee, Newcastle University

Director of Education, HCA (formerly Director of Excellence in Learning & Teaching)

Chair of the School Education Committee, HCA

Chair of the Postgraduate Taught Board of Studies & Board of Examiners, HCA

Member of School Executive Board, HCA

Member of Faculty Education Committee, HaSS

Member of Technology Enhanced Learning Sub-Committee, HaSS

Member of Learning & Teaching Conference Programme Commitee, Newcastle University

Associate member, Association for Learning Technology


Previous roles 

Teaching Excellence Framework subject-level co-ordinator, Classics

Leader of Technology Enhanced Learning Working Group, HCA

Degree Programme Director and Selector, MA Classics and Ancient History (4035 F/P)

Admissions Tutor and Selector for the UG programmes Q800, Q810, QQ83, V110

Open Day Co-Ordinator for Classics and Ancient History

Organiser and chair of Classics and Ancient History research seminars

Convenor for The Writing of History, an HCA Strategic Research Theme

Member of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Commitee, HCA

Teaching

Feedback, Guidance, and Consultation hours, 2021/22 (teaching weeks only)

SEMESTER 1:

  • Mondays, 1.00-2.00 (Armstrong 2.21)
  • Tuesdays, 9.00-10.00 (Armstrong 2.21)
  • Thursdays, 10.00-11.00 (by Zoom - email for details)

SEMESTER 2:

  • tbc

Teaching, 2021/22

As module leader

  • HCA1008 : Global Ancient Histories
  • CAH2006 : Hellenistic Empires from Alexander to Cleopatra

As contributor

  • CAH2208 : Issues in Ancient History
  • CAC8000 : Research Skills and Development [MA]
  • CAC8090 : Dissertation for MA Classics & Ancient History
Research

My research focuses on the history and literature of the late Classical and Hellenistic periods (roughly 4th – 1st centuries BC). My main interests, which often coincide, include Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic empires, kingship and royal ideology, and Greek intellectual history. I remain strongly interested in the analytical opportunities offered by studying interconnections between various types of literary and material evidence.

Current research

I am currently engaged in two lines of research:

(i) I am currently completing a monograph entitled The World of Hellenistic Kingship, which examines the ideological development of kingship, and its relation to contemporary political and cultural environments, in the tumultuous period after Alexander the Great's death. Poetry, inscriptions, and coins feature heavily in the evidence base for this project, studying which has created a whole series of ramifications to be explored in future research.

(ii) A secondary focus of my research is on the intellectual world of Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian writing a world-history in the first century BC. Areas of particular interest are Diodorus' early modern reception, his literary and generic backgrounds, and his place in modern European historiography. One article has appeared in 2021 - ‘Thomas Hobbes, Diodorus Siculus, and Early Humanity’ (Hobbes Studies 34.2, 172-200) - which will lay the ground for a future research project.

Postgraduate supervision

I welcome potential PhD students wishing to work on any of the above areas, but also in the field of Hellenistic culture and history more broadly. Recent supervisions include:

‘Royal Ideology and the Hunt: Cultural interaction between Europe and Asia in the reign of Alexander the Great’ (completed 2019)

‘The Exiles of the Sullan Regime and the Elites of the Empire: Interaction, Discourse, Politics, and Integration in the 70s BC’ (began 2018)

'Olympian Shackles: An examination of the relationship between Greek Mythology, Identity and Material Culture in Hellenistic Greece' (began 2020) 

Publications