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 five universities in three countries (Maynooth, one summer at Cork, Lampeter, Swansea, and Ghent), which has given me great insight into different approaches to teaching. 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 an 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 most relevant publications here.

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

• 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 during a visit of the Bath Roman Baths 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, and hillwalking.