About me

I’ve been passionate about the ancient world from a very young age. I loved reading stories about the Greek and Roman heroes and monsters, and the first time I learned the ancient Greek alphabet, it felt like I had always known it. I went on to do a PhD on ancient literature and myth at Maynooth University, and have been an academic since 2001 (crikey, I’m getting old!). I have been a lecturer at six universities in three countries (Maynooth, one summer at Cork, Lampeter, Swansea, Ghent, and UCD), which has given me great insight into different approaches to teaching and public engagement. I have more than twenty years’ experience teaching ancient languages, literatures, and cultures. 

Since I became aware of the vast inequality in who has access to knowledge about antiquity, I’ve become a passionate advocate for making this knowledge more broadly accessible. In the past two decades, I have not only taught university students, but also children as young as 4 years old and adults of all ages. I have taught numerous workshops in primary and secondary schools (partly through my projects in the UK [Literacy through Classics] and Belgium [Ancient Greeks – Young Heroes]), have delivered interactive lectures to cultural organizations, worked with museums, and advised policymakers.

You can find a list of my publications here.

I have received a number of awards for my teaching skills and communication with non-academic audiences: 

• In 2025 I was the recipient of the annual OIKOS (the Dutch consortium of University Classics Departments) Impact and Outreach Award. You can read my speech on ’the vulnerability of Public Engagement’ here.
• In 2020 I was one of the winners of the annual award for Science Communication by the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium, for my work with primary schools in Belgium. 
• In 2016, I was the recipient of the Swansea University Research and Impact Award (Public Engagement), for my work with primary schools and policy makers in the UK.
• In 2013, I received the Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award at Swansea University (UK). 

I have a musical son (the photo shows us on a visit to the Roman baths in Bath in the UK) and two silly cats. When I’m not teaching, researching, writing, or working with various stakeholders of my projects, I enjoy growing vegetables in my little urban garden, doing pottery and yoga, hillwalking, and visiting historic sites.