"classics and egyptology" blog posts
Being Human Festival 2022
Find out more about our Department's involvement in the Being Human Festival 2022.
Posted on: 23 November 2022
Horus Cippi
The distinction between rational therapy and the use of rituals and incantations is a modern prerogative. Such a separation does not apply to ancient Egypt: medicine and magic are two main constituents of the same process, aimed at preserving life through the prevention and cure of illnesses (Pinch 1994). Constant threats in the form of ferocious and poisonous animals challenged the Egyptians’ daily life.
Posted on: 6 July 2022
ACE & Creativity: Taking on world mythology one death metal album at a time
Downcast Twilight is one of the various heavy metal projects I have contributed lyrics to over the years, but perhaps the one closest to my classicizing heart.
Posted on: 8 June 2022
ACE & Creativity: Talk To Me
I’ve always been interested in drama and write, act and direct in community theatre, including my own community theatre group, ‘Grass Roots’. In 1998 I gained an MA in Screenwriting from John Moores University. This year I gained my PhD at Liverpool University with the thesis ‘Classics, Empire and Didacticism, 1919-1939’. Prior to this, in 2013, I gained my MA in Classics with the dissertation ‘The Unheeded Voice: Receptions of Cassandra in Dramatic and Narrative Texts’.
Posted on: 10 May 2022
Normalising Queer Representation in Archaeology
Heteronormativity, the idea that heterosexual identity and desire is considered the norm, is being transformed by the use of Queer Theory in archaeology. Queer Theory is used to explore aspects of culture that is traditionally rejected as valid depictions of gender and sexuality. Commonly used for gender representation at burial sites, the identity of deceased individuals is being radically transformed through the consideration of Queer relationships; intersexual identities, and non-binary status. The requirements used to identify biological sex is typically constructed through heteronormative approaches, where intersexual identities are rarely considered. In order to fill the gap in knowledge that heteronormativity fails in, scholars have been using Queer Theory to challenge socially constructed views of gender. First used in the 1990’s to offer a more balanced approach to gender, Queer Theory was used by various different fields, during a time that Third-Wave Feminism was at its height. During the Third-Wave, the concept that a male-dominating society does have an impact on the value of women led to the rise of Queer minority voices currently underrepresented.
Posted on: 16 February 2022