Staff Profiles

Biography

I am a Lecturer in Classics in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology. I was educated at Oxford and then University College London, where I completed my PhD under the supervision of Fiachra Mac Góráin and Gesine Manuwald. Before coming to Newcastle I held the positions of Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Teaching Fellow in Latin Literature, and Lecturer in Classics at Durham University; Lecturer in Classics at the University of Iceland; and Assistant Professor in Classics at University College Dublin.

Research

My research focuses primarily on Latin literature and its reception, with a particular focus on philosophical intertextuality in Roman poetry. A further strand of my research relates to the Epicurean philosopher and poet Philodemus, whose fragmentary works have been recovered from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. Other interests include Hellenistic and didactic poetry, and the biographical reception of ancient poetry.

At present I am finishing a book to be entitled Virgil and Philodemus, and several articles on Aratus, Callimachus, and Lucretius. Together with Thomas Coward (Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Naples), I am organising an international conference on the Herculaneum papyri, to be held at Newcastle in June 2024.

Widening Access

I often give talks at secondary schools on aspects of Roman literature and culture, and this year I am also organising the PARTNERS Programme Summer School in Classics and Ancient History at Newcastle, which provides students from traditionally under-represented backgrounds with support and opportunities to pursue study of the ancient world at university.

Undergraduate Teaching

• The World of Latin Literature (CAC1013)
• Researching the Classics (CAC2001)
• Level 2 Latin: Interpretation of Texts (CLA2001)
• Level 2 Latin: Special Study (CLA2002)
• Beginners' Latin 1 (CLA1001)
• Beginners' Latin 2 (CLA1002)