Postgraduate research students
PhD title: The Ancient Weather Sign: Texts, Science and Tradition.
Supervised by: Dr. Emma Gee
I did my undergraduate degree at Manchester (BA (Hons) Classics, First Class), before coming to St Andrews to do my MLitt (Greek and Latin, Distinction). I am particularly interested in ancient science, especially astronomy and meteorology, and Greek and Latin Literature, especially didactic poetry.
PhD title: Emergent Summetria: Studies in the Stoic Conception of Beauty as Theoretical Virtue
Supervised by: Prof. Stephen Halliwell
I have received my undergraduate and master’s degrees in Classics from the University of Durham. My research interest is ancient philosophy, especially the Hellenistic schools. I am particularly interested in ancient metaphysics, aesthetics, and their convergence.
PhD title: Myth and rationality in Plato’s middle dialogues
Supervised by: Prof. Stephen Halliwell
I began my studies at the Classics department of the University of Genoa (Italy) but discovered also an interest in Modern Philosophy which brought me to enroll on a joint program in Philosophy and Classics at the Freiburg University. I completed my degree (Magister Artium) with a thesis on the intern consistency and philosophical argumentation of the first five speeches delivered in Plato’s Symposium.
Email: mgf2@st-andrews.ac.uk
PhD title: Greek Pessimism and Giacomo Leopardi
Supervised by: Prof. Stephen Halliwell
I received my BA in Classics at the Università di Bologna in 2010 with a dissertation on the topos of Militia amoris from Classical literature to Lorenzo Da Ponte’s libretto for Mozart’s Così fan tutte. In 2012 I completed a MSc in Classics at the University of Edinburgh, with a dissertation on aspects of Giacomo Leopardi’s study and revival of Greek pessimism in his Operette Morali. I am generally interested in Greek literature and thought, especially Archaic and Classical. The core of my interests is the reception of ancient literature and thought in European intellectual history, and particularly in Italian literature. I am also greatly fascinated by the profound re-thinking of Antiquity between the end of the Seventeenth century and the Nineteenth century, the time-frame of the Querelle, Winckelmann, and Nietzsche.
Email: clk29@st-andrews.ac.uk
PhD title: Identity and power in Libanius’ pre-Julianic orations
Supervised by: Dr. Roger Rees and Dr. Jason König
2008-2011: BA in History and Greek from University of Southern Denmark, with an undergraduate dissertation on Late Latin panegyrics. 2011-12: M.Litt. in Ancient History from University of St. Andrews, with a dissertation on Himerius. My primary research interest is Greek imperial literature, ranging from Second Sophistic to Late Antiquity. I am also interested in the Latin panegyrics and late third/fourth century A.D. in general.
PhD title: Becoming Roman Soldiers: a study of the acculturative effects of Roman auxiliary service
Supervised by: Jon Coulston
I received my Bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude) at Northern Kentucky University where I studied History with an Honors minor. My undergraduate career culminated with my Capstone Research project entitled ‘The Barbarian Allies of Rome.’ My research interests tend to be consumed almost entirely with the militaristic, namely Greek and Roman warfare, but I am also intrigued by cultural exchange in a multi-cultural milieu. My recent activity as a historical re-enactor has also piqued my interest in experimental archaeology, an area into which I intend to delve deeper once time and finances permit.
PhD title: The Beautiful Body in Classical Athens: Descriptions of and Reactions to the Attractive Human Body, A Cross-Genre Approach.
Supervised by: Dr. Sian Lewis
2003-2007: BA from Missouri State University, U.S.A. 2008-2009: MA from University of Otago, New Zealand. I am mainly interested in Greek literature and culture, including drama, oratory, history, poetry and pottery.
PhD title: Lexis – An Aristotelian Theory of Style?
Supervised by: Prof. Stephen Halliwell
I completed a BA in Classics at the University of Berne in 2010 and an MSt in Greek and/or Latin Languages and Literature at the University of Oxford in 2011. My research interests include socio-linguistics in Ancient Greece, in particular the notions of correctness, linguistic appropriateness, and prescriptivism.
PhD title: The influence of Achaemenid Persia upon fourth century and early Hellenistic tyranny
Supervised by: Dr Sian Lewis
I received my BA in Classical Civilisation and Philosophy from the University of Warwick in 2009, and then moved to St Andrews to undertake an Mlitt in Ancient History in 2010. My primary research area is in classical Greek tyranny, with a focus on fourth century and Hellenistic regimes. I am also interested in Alexander the Great, Hellenistic Kingship and Numismatics. I am one of the two current Postgraduate representatives for the academic year 2011-12, and part of the organising committee for AMPAL 2013.
Email: tl287@st-andrews.ac.uk
PhD title: "Training the soul in excellence": the interplay of ethics and aesthetics in Plato's conception of musical theory and practices
Supervised by: Prof. Stephen Halliwell
In March 2006 I obtained my BMus in Classical Piano at the National Conservatory of Music F.A. Bonporti, Trento (Italy). At the University of Trento I got my BA (2007, cum laude) and MPhil (2009, cum laude) in History of Ancient Philosophy.Over the course of the last three years, I presented papers at various conferences in the UK, France, Italy, Greece, Brazil and Japan. My research interests focus on Classical Greek literature and thought, ancient Greek music and Classical drama.In addition, I am co-editing (with M. Vegetti and F. Ferrari) and translating from Italian into English a selection of essays from the Commentary on Plato's Republic (Bibliopolis 1998-2007) which will be published by Academia Verlag in 2013. At St Andrews, I have been a tutor in Ancient Greek (GK1002), Classical Studies (CL2003, Genres and traditions in Greek poetry), Latin Language and Literature (LT1003 and LT2001/3). In 2010-2011 I was Representative of STAGE and I have co-organised the STAGE graduate conference held at the University of St Andrews on 10-11 June 2011 ('Mirror, Mirror on the wall… Self-representation and Construction of Identity in Antiquity'). I am about to start work as a research fellow at the Oesterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften in Vienna on a research project entitled 'Rhythm in Archaic and Classical Greek Poetry'.
PhD title: The Place and Practice of Astrology in 3rd-5th centuries AD
Supervised by: Dr Roger Rees
My studies have so far all taken place in St Andrews. I completed an MA in Classics in 2011 and MLitt in Greek and Latin in 2012 before embarking on my PhD. My research interests include science in antiquity and its relation with religion with a focus on the Roman Empire.
Email: rmts@st-andrews.ac.uk
PhD title: Fables and digressions: The real nature of Photios’ Bibliotheca
Supervised by: Dr Jason König
I entered university sometime in the previous millennium to study English Philology at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, but then I found my latent classicist and learned Latin there ab nihilo, before moving to St Andrews to learn my Greek, starting from scratch once again, but ended up with several awards for my Greek. My research interests focus on Greek (including Byzantine) and Latin miscellanistic and difficult-to-categorise literature, with special emphasis on Varro, Clement of Alexandria, Censorinus and Dio Chrysostom. I am also fascinated by the dual history of rhetoric in antiquity as specified by Schmid. I am currently a tutor in Greek and Roman literature and culture and served my time as the Postgraduate Representative at the School in 2011. The thesis is made possible by the kind support of the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Fondation Hardt.
Email: bwn@st-andrews.ac.uk
PhD title: Social Change in Roman Republican Spain
Supervised by: Prof. Greg Woolf
I completed a BA (Hons) in 2006 at the University of Otago (New Zealand) majoring in Classics and in Film and Media Studies.
PhD title: The flower of suffering
Supervised by: Prof. Stephen Halliwell
I completed my BA at the Università degli Studi di Siena with a dissertation on the concept of logos in Parmenides and Heraclitus, and my M.Litt at the University of St Andrews with a comparative dissertation on Gorgias’ Encomium of Helen and Euripides’ Helen. I am generally interested in Greek literature and philosophy, especially in the interconnectedness between the two. In addition, I am also interested in the reception of Classics in 19th and 20th centuries’ existentialist philosophers such as Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Camus.
PhD title: Voluntary Associations in the post-classical polis
Supervised by: Prof Greg Woolf, Prof. Joerg Ruepke
I completed my MA in Classical Archaeology, Ancient History and Art History at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. My thesis, finished in 2007, dealt with Dionysiac cult-associations and the membership in/composition of the groups. I just finished my PhD-thesis as binational project following a co-tutelle treaty between the University of St Andrews and the University of Erfurt, Germany. I am interested in Greek and Roman religion, especially in religious groups and associations. My current research is focused on the architectural remains of volunatry association in Hellenistic Greece and the first three centuries of the Roman Empire. I was supervised by Prof. Joerg Ruepke and Prof. Greg Woolf.
PhD title: The Sons of Homer/The Sons of Rama: Performers of epic in Greece and India
Supervised by: Dr. Jon Hesk
B.A. SUNY Buffalo, M.Litt. St. Andrews. I am the Secretary of the Scottish Hellenic Society of St. Andrews. My research interests cover the Greek literary spectrum.
PhD title: A Return to Old Splendour?: Late- and Post-Roman Attitudes Towards Classical Monuments, 312-552
Supervised by: Professor Greg Woolf
I am interested primarily in archaeology, particularly of the Roman and Late Antique periods. My close secondary interests lie in urbanism and architecture and the problem of spolia and re-use in late antique and post-Roman cities. I will be presenting conference papers this year at the CA in Exeter and the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo, the later about Bath restorations in fourth and fifth century Ostia. I am currently preparing two publications, one about a nineteenth century forgery of a Roman statuette in the journal MUSE, as well as a chapter for an upcoming volume of Late Antique Archaeology on the use of spolia in late antique archaeological excavation.
PhD title: Centuriation and its alternatives: a reconsideration of Roman land division.
Supervised by: Prof. Greg Woolf
I have received both my BA and MPhil degree in Ancient History from the Radboud University Nijmegen (The Netherlands). I have done a considerable amount of archaeology during my studies, and I have a fair amount of fieldwork experience in Italy. I enjoy doing fieldwork and am always interested in new projects. My research interests lie in landscape archaeology and Roman history, more specific Roman colonization, Romanisation, town-countryside relations, and surface surveys. In connection with my research, I am interested in GIS, aerial photography and mapping, and I am looking forward to learning more about these techniques.
PhD title: Spartan austerity between 650 to 350 BCE
Supervised by: Dr Rebecca Sweetman
MLitt Ancient History from University of St Andrews & BA Publishing from Napier University, Edinburgh My main interest is Spartan society, particularly of the Archaic & Classical periods, and moving beyond the traditionally held views of its militaristic and authoritarian regime by analysing both the literary and archaeological evidence. I have a long-held fascination with the Battle of Thermopylai and my Masters dissertation analysed the impact of the conflict landscape on its eventual outcome. I have wider interests in ancient warfare, especially conflict landscapes and the capabilities of the human body on military campaign or in battle, and more general interests in Alexander the Great, Ancient Persia and the Roman Republic to early Empire. Research papers include ‘Hellenic Black Sheep: Fighting the Spartan stereotype’ and ‘Looking for an austere identity in the sacred landscapes of Sparta’. I will shortly complete the pilot 2 year ‘Communicating Ancient Greece & Rome’ course run by Oxford and Royal Holloway Universities, which focuses on widening access to academic research through public engagement.
Email: mhw23@st-andrews.ac.uk
PhD title: Moral expertise in the Roman Empire
Supervised by: Professor Jill Harries and Dr Alex Long
Before coming to St Andrews, I studied Classics and Political Science at Leiden University. In St Andrews, I pursue both interests within my thesis and by participating in the James Wilson Programme in Constitutional Studies. Over the past few years, I have presented papers at several universities in the UK, the US, and in Australia, and I am currently preparing an article about the structure of Roman law books and an emendation to Gaius. Additional research interests include Latin and (Imperial) Greek literature (esp. prose), technical and didactic literature, ancient literacy, papyrology, as well as the philosophy of history. At St Andrews, I have been a tutor in Latin and Classical Studies (Roman literature) since 2010. In Leiden, I taught political philosophy, comparative politics and rational choice theory. I was a postgraduate representative in 2010-2011 and co-organized the STAGE conference of 2011.