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Faculty of Classics

 

 

 

Biography

My PhD in classical linguistics, funded by the Gates Cambridge Trust, focuses on the effect of accentual paradigms on the composition of Late Antique Greek poetry. My broader research concerns the points of contact Latin and Greek shared with the Semitic languages and cultures of the Mediterranean area, especially with regard to Christianity after Nicaea and the first centuries of Islam. 

Prior Education:

  • MPhil Classics (Distinction), Peterhouse, University of Cambridge
  • MIslStud Islamic Law and Fiqh (Distinction, Charles Sturt Medal), Charles Sturt University
  • LLB (Honours Class I), University of Sydney
  • BA Classics (Honours Class I, University Medal), University of Sydney
  • DipLangStud Arabic Language and Cultures, University of Sydney

Research

  • Linguistics of Latin and Greek (focusing on phonology and graphemics)
  • Language contact between Greek and Semitic languages (Arabic, Syriac, Ge'ez) in Late Antiquity
  • Christian-Muslim relations
  • Legal traditions of the Abrahamic religions within pluralist secular systems
  • Colonial legal systems

Publications

Key publications: 
  • (2023) 'Latin Transcriptions of Islamic Formulas in Medieval Iberian Texts on Muḥammad', Al-Qanṭara: Revista de Estudios Árabes 44(1) https://doi.org/10.3989/alqantara.2023.001
  • (2022) (with Daniel Hanigan) 'Autopsy and Didactic Authority: Rethinking the Prologue of the Periodos to Nicomedes', Classical Quarterly 72(2): 558-572 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009838822000684
  • (2018) 'Jesus as God's Word: A Comparative Study in Islamic and Christian Theologies', Australian Journal of Islamic Studies 3(2): 68-85 https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v3i2.117
  • (2016) 'Old Age: The New Sappho and the Mimnerman Tradition', Classicum 42(1): 2-13
Other publications: 
  • (2020) (with Rebecca Brown) ‘Implementing the Law of the Sea: The case of Russia in arbitrations under UNCLOS’ in Marta Chantal Ribeiro, Fernando Loureiro Bastos and Tore Henriksen (eds) Global Challenges and the Law of the Sea (Cham: Springer): 287-317

Teaching and Supervisions

Teaching: 

I provide supervisions at various colleges in Latin language; Greek language; the history of Late Antiquity; and classical and comparative philology and linguistics. I teach Latin and Greek language classes in the Faculty of Classics as a Postgraduate Teaching Assistant (PTA). I also provide teaching for outreach programmes, including the Sutton Trust Summer Schools and the Cambridge Higher Aspirations Scheme.

I am an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

Other Professional Activities

  • Conference Administrator (Programme Secretary), The Classical Association (2022-2023)
  • Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition:
    • Team Advisor, University of Cambridge (2021-2022)
    • Team Advisor, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (2018-2019)
  • Research Assistant, Polonsky Foundation Greek Manuscripts Project (2021)
  • Conference Team Member, Cambridge International Law Journal (2020-2021)
  • Student Director, International Law Students Association (2019-2020)
  • Admitted to the Supreme Court of New South Wales (since 2022)
  • Member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple (since 2023)
Supervisor: Dr Rupert Thompson
College: Peterhouse
Title of Thesis: The Development of the Greek ‘Stress’ Accent in Late Antique Poetic Composition

Contact Details

Not available for consultancy

Latest news

The Kennedy Professorship of Latin

13 June 2025

The Board of Electors to the Kennedy Professorship of Latin invite applications for this Professorship from persons whose work falls within the general field of the Professorship to take up appointment on 1 September 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter. For more information see details here . Closing date: 8 September...

Masters Student wins Roman Society MA dissertation prize

28 May 2025

The Faculty is delighted to announce that Naomi Norden (King’s College) has won joint first place in the Roman Society MA dissertation prize for her 2024 MPhil thesis 'Creating complexity: Paratextuality and Intertextuality in the Works of Ausonius'. Congratulations Naomi!

St John's College Newell Lecture

27 May 2025

This year the St John's College Newell Lecture was delivered by Jackie Murray on the topic of Race and Injustice in Plato's Republic. You can watch a recording of the event here:

Marie Curie / BA postdoctoral fellowship schemes

19 May 2025

The Faculty of Classics invites potential applicants to the MSCA (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions) and the British Academy’s Postdoctoral Fellowship schemes within areas relevant to our research clusters: Greek and Latin Literature, Greek and Roman Philosophy, Ancient History, C lassical Art and Archaeology, Classical and...