Personal Biography
I read Literae Humaniores at St Anne’s College, Oxford, followed by two years as Research Assistant to Professor Keith Hopkins, with whom I collaboratively authored a chapter of his book Death and Renewal (Cambridge, 1983). I then decided to try life outside academia, working first in overseas development and subsequently in a series of leadership roles in UK health charities and public bodies, for which I was appointed OBE in 2003. I returned to academic life in 2009. My doctoral research, undertaken at Christ Church, Oxford, brought together both strands of my career in a study of the 1st century Greek doctor Rufus of Ephesus’s unique treatise on the importance of questioning patients about all aspects of their life and condition.
I am absolutely dedicated to making Classics appealing and accessible to all who want to study it, no matter what background they come from, and regardless of any previous experience of ancient Greek and/or Latin. I am Senior Member of the Oxford Ancient Languages Society, and Chair of Oxford Latinitas, both of which offer immersive teaching of Latin and ancient Greek to enable people from all backgrounds to access the ancient languages with ease and fluency.
Research and Teaching
I teach Ancient Greek and Latin Languages to undergraduates reading Literae Humaniores, Classics & English, Classics with Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Classical Archaeology & Ancient History, and Ancient & Modern History. I also serve as Assistant Director of the Centre for the Study of Greek and Roman Antiquity.
Before coming to Corpus, I was Tutor in Greek and Latin Languages at Jesus College (2012-2025), where I led the introduction of Active Greek and Latin, which involves teaching grammar and reading skills by having students speak and write the languages from the very first lesson. This led to a dramatic improvement in results. I am also Supernumerary Fellow in Classics at Harris Manchester College, where as well as introducing the active method I have also been responsible for the expansion of the Classics programme to include Literae Humaniores as well as Joint Schools courses.
I have taught for the Classics Faculty as part of the inter-collegiate language teaching team, and, depending on need, I teach immersive Latin and Ancient Greek classes for the Oxford Ancient Languages Society and Oxford Latinitas.
My research interests encompass most aspects of health, illness and medical treatment in Greco-Roman antiquity, particularly the social history of ancient medicine. I have supervised undergraduate and graduate theses on health, illness and medical treatment in Greco-Roman antiquity.
Publications
‘On the Importance of Questioning the Sick Person, a translation of Rufus of Ephesus, Quaestiones Medicinales‘, in Medicine, Health, and Healing in Ancient Greece and Rome (500 BCE to 500 CE): A Sourcebook, edited by Kristi Upson-Saia, Heidi Marx, and Jared Secord, 112-121. University of California Press (2023).
‘Ars longa, vita brevis: Active Latin in the Classroom’, in Antigone Journal, September 2021. Click here for online publication.
‘Dead Language Talking: Latin For All in the 21st Century’. Talk recorded for Digi Conference What Have the Ancients Ever Done For Us?, Trinity College Dublin, April 2021.Watch here.
‘Mental Perceptions and Pathology in the Work of Rufus of Ephesus’, in C. Thumiger and P.N. Singer, eds., Mental Illness in Ancient Medicine, 176-197. Leiden and Boston (2018).
‘Questioning the Patient, Questioning Hippocrates: Rufus of Ephesus and the Pursuit of Knowledge’, in G. Petridou and C. Thumiger, eds., Homo Patiens – Approaches to the Patient in the Ancient World, 81-103. Leiden and Boston (2016)
‘Rufus of Ephesus and the Patient’s Perspective in Medicine’, in British Journal for the History of Philosophy 22.5: 996-1020 (2014).
Review of Jacques Jouanna, Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen: Selected Papers (Brill, 2012), in Medical History 57, 447-449 (2013).