I grew up in a small seaside town in Northern Ireland, before heading off to the 'mainland' to study Classics at university: first at Edinburgh, and then in London. After teaching in various roles across the University of London, I joined Newcastle in 2018 as an hourly-paid Associate Lecturer, then took up a temporary lectureship in 2019-20, before finally re-joining as a permanent Lecturer in Classics in September 2020. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Classics in 2022. 

I have designed and developed a vast range of Ancient Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies modules here at Newcastle across all levels, successfully delivering over 20 new modules in three years. I am committed to creating an inclusive and accessible experience for all of my students, and have a highly successful record (internal/external funding and awards) for implementing new and innovative approaches to language learning, assessment, and student engagement.

As a first-generation student from a working class background, I'm a firm believer that Classics (in its broadest sense) should be accessible to everyone, and I work closely with our central outreach programmes, local schools, arts and heritage partners and national charities to introduce more people - from school age to the retired! - to the literature, history, material culture, and languages of the ancient world. If you'd like to know more about ways we can support Ancient History, Classical Civilisation, Latin or Greek from KS1 to Sixth Form, or would like to collaborate on a Classics-related project, just drop me a line at the address above!

Qualifications

2005-2009 MA Classics, University of Edinburgh

2011-2013 MSc Classics, University of Edinburgh

2013-2018 PhD Classics, University of London (RHUL)

2021 Professional Development for External Examiners (Advance HE)

Recognition 

2022   Engagement and Place Awards: Early Career Award (shortlisted)

2022   Outstanding Contribution to Teaching in the HaSS Faculty (6 nominations; shortlisted)

2022   Outstanding Contribution to Feedback (nominated)

2021   Outstanding Contribution to Teaching in the HaSS Faculty (nominated)

2020   Outstanding Contribution to Teaching in the HaSS Faculty (shortlisted)

Institutional Roles and Responsibilities

Policy Academy Fellow 2022

Academic Lead for Digital Education (HCA)

Schools Outreach Lead (Classics & Ancient History)

PARTNERS Programme Subject Lead (Classics & Ancient History)

Bitesize Uni (Classics & Ancient History)

Marketing and Recruitment Lead (Classics & Ancient History)

Employability and Alumni Lead (Classics & Ancient History)

External Roles 

Classics for All Academic Lead (Newcastle/North East)

Brilliant Club Tutor - The Scholars Programme

Arts Emergency Mentor

Useful Links

Classics Outreach Hub

Romans on the Tyne project

Classics Outreach on Instagram

• CAC1015 How Should I Live? An Introduction to Ancient Philosophy
• CAG1012 Intermediate Greek: Euripides Medea
• CAG2001 Greek Interpretation of Texts: Myths of the Underworld
• CAC2064/3064 Dreams and Dreaming in the Ancient World
• CAG3002/8002 Special Study in Greek: Iliad 18

As Contributor:

• CAC8110 MA Ancient Cultures in Context: Global to Postcolonial Epic
• CAC2001 Researching the Classics: The Pirate and the Farmer
• SEL1023 Transformations: The Odyssey 
• CAC3000/CAH3000 Dissertation 

• CLA1002 Beginners Latin in Action 2
• CLA1011 Intermediate Latin 1: Virgil's Aeneid 
• CLA1012 Intermediate Latin 2: Virgil's Aeneid 
• CLA3001 Latin Interpretation of Texts: Latin Letters 
• CLA2002 Special Study in Latin: Hellenistic Philosophy 

• CAG1011 Intermediate Greek 1: Lysias On the Murder of Eratosthenes 
• CAG1012 Intermediate Greek 2: Euripides Medea (2020-21)
• CAG1012 Intermediate Greek 2: Euripides Helen (2019-20)
• CAG1012 Intermediate Greek 2: Demosthenes Third Philippic (2018-19) 
• CAG2001 Greek Interpretation of Texts: Myths of the Underworld (2019-20; 2020-21)
• CAG2002 Special Study in Greek: Sacred and Divine Diseases
• CAG3002/8002 Special Study in Greek: Hippocratic De Morbo Sacro
• CAG2001 Greek Interpretation of Texts: Plato's Phaedo (2018-19)

• CAC1015 How Should I Live? An Introduction to Ancient Moral Philosophy
• CAC2001 Researching the Classics: (In)famous Oedipus
• CAC2064/3064 Dreams and Dreaming in the Ancient World
• Dissertation: Classics, Classical Studies, Ancient History, Classics & English
• CAC8106 MA Independent Research Project 
• CAC8110 MA Ancient Cultures in Context: Globalising Ancient Epic (2020-21)
• CAC8110 MA Ancient Cultures in Context: Ancient Medicine (2019-20)
• CAC8000 MA Research Skills and Development: Working with Fragments

My research interests lie primarily in ancient thought - especially the interactions between literature, philosophy, and medicine in the areas of eschatology, cosmology, physiology, epistemology and psychology. I am particularly interested in Presocratic philosophy and Hippocratic medicine - I have recently completed my first monograph, Sleep and Dreams in Early Greek Thought which places the theories of the Presocratics and Hippocratics on both phenomena in their full cultural and intellectual context. While I continue to work on sleep and dreams, I am also currently preparing my next project, based on my teaching here at Newcastle, which places Ancient Greek attitudes to death and the afterlife within a similarly contextual approach.

Beyond this, I am also interested in classical reception (across many different genres and mediums), methodologies of translation, and ancient language pedagogy. I am currently researching alternative pathways, learning activities and assessment for Latin and Ancient Greek through my ongoing Applied Ancient Languages project, supported by the HaSS Faculty Teaching Development Fund. This project follows on from two years of successfully developing and implementing alternative assessment across the Classics & Classical Studies curriculum.

As a product of my ongoing work with Classics for All, The Brilliant Club, and institutional widening participation initiatives, my interest in educational outreach has developed into an adjacent area of research and impact through my strategic multi-strand 'Classics Transformed' project. A primary strand of this is Romans on the Tyne, kindly funded by Newcastle University's Engagement & Place Fund and the Classical Association, which focuses on introducing all pupils in the Tyneside area to the Roman past in an accessible and hands-on way to support literacy and socio-cultural development, in collaboration with arts and heritage partners across our region. It also supports employability for current Newcastle students through a series of paid graduate-level internships.

I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students on projects related to any of these topics.

Recent Funding Awards

2022   Landmark Futures

2022   Newcastle University Summer Internship Funding

2022   Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies Institutional Grant

2021   Classical Association Outreach Grant

2021   Newcastle University Engagement & Place Tier 2 Funding

2021   HaSS Faculty Teaching Development Fund

2021   NCL Graduate Internship Funding: Classics Transformed

2020   NCL Graduate Internship Funding: Digital Tools for Ancient Languages

2020   Innovative Teaching Fund

Memberships

• Holton SR. Sleep Patterns and Sleep Regulation. In: R. Matuszewski, ed. A Cultural History of Sleep and Dreaming in Antiquity. London: Bloomsbury, 2024. In Preparation.
• Holton SR. Review: N. Summerton, Greco-Roman Medicine and What It Can Teach Us Today, Barnsley 2021. Journal of Classics Teaching 2022. In Preparation.
• Holton S. Sleep and Dreams in Early Greek Thought: Presocratic and Hippocratic Approaches. London: Routledge, 2022.
• Holton S. Body Parts. Durham: Institute for Medical Humanities at Durham University, 2020. Available at: https://thepolyphony.org/2020/06/14/body-parts/.
• Holton S. Creative Translation in Classics. Newcastle upon Tyne: LTDS, Newcastle University, 2020. Available at: https://microsites.ncl.ac.uk/casestudies/2020/07/27/creative-translation-in-classics/.
• Magowan S. Alcmaeon of Croton, Philosopher Physician. Hektoen International Journal of Medical Humanities 2015, 7(3).
• Magowan S. Review A. Gregory, The Presocratics and the Supernatural: Magic, Philosophy and Science in Early Greece, London 2013. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2014, 2014.11.22.