FACULTY DIRECTORY Q-T
Meet our experts!
Owen Rees
"The Spartan Mirage", "Xenophon"
Owen Rees is an ancient historian and lecturer in Applied Humanities at Birmingham Newman University. Owen is the founder and lead editor for Bad Ancient, which brings together a growing network of specialists to fact-check common claims made about the ancient world and expose the prevalent pseudohistory in the modern day. He has written on all sorts of topics of ancient history, from Greek warfare to ancient tattoos. Most recently Owen published his first trade book: The Far Edges of the Known World: A New Perspective on our Ancient Civilizations (Bloomsbury, 2024).
Michael Scott
"Themistocles"
Michael is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for International affairs and a Professor in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick. He is also a National Teaching Fellow and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy; Fellow of the Royal Historical Society; Honorary Citizen of Delphi, Greece and President of the Lytham Saint Annes Classical Association.
He was formally the inaugural Director of the Warwick Institute of Engagement and Director of Warwick Classics Network at the University of Warwick; as well as Trustee and Director of Classics for All; a member of The Royal Society Public Engagement Committee; and a member of the Latin Excellence Project Expert Group, appointed by the Minister at the Department for Education, UK.
He is the author of multiple books on the ancient Mediterranean world as well as ancient Global History; and has written and presented a wide range of TV and Radio documentaries for National Geographic, History Channel, ITV and the BBC.
Debby Sneed
"Disability in Ancient Greece"
Dr. Debby Sneed is Assistant Professor in Comparative World Literature and Classics at California State University, Long Beach. She also serves as the Field Supervisor of the Athenian Agora Excavations and Summer Training Program. She is a specialist in physical disability in ancient Greece.
Dan Stewart
"What is 'Classics' Anyway?", "Pausanias", "Restoration and Anastylosis"
Dan Stewart is an Associate Professor of Ancient History in the School of Heritage and Culture at the University of Leicester. His research is on the intersection of text and material culture, particularly how it impacts understandings of archaeology in Greece. He will eventually have a book on the archaeological history of Sparta (with Bloomsbury), and is co-director of the Roman Knossos Project on Crete. Loves talking about himself in the third person.
Kate Sumnall
"Boudica"
Kate Sumnall is Curator of London’s Prehistory at London Museum. Kate is a finds specialist who loves to explore the insights into people that objects hold. She enjoys interpreting the past, drawing on new research and evidence to explore ancient lives and place. Through her work, she seeks to build emotional connection between audiences and prehistory, finding the stories of people traditionally not centred in interpretations.
Zoé Elise Thomas
"Vercingetorix"
Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas (she/her) is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Greek and Roman Studies at Millsaps College who currently works on the connections between architecture, identity, and Roman imperialism in Gaul, and her fieldwork specialty is in bioarchaeology. When Zoé isn’t grossing out her students with weird medical facts or forcing her Latin class to chant creepily, she’s usually found at home with her cats, Chicken and Shrimp, and her ever-growing plant collection. Her greatest claim to fame is she has “aura” according to her students, which both flatters and frightens her.
LJ Trafford
"Domitian"
L.J. Trafford studied Ancient History at the University of Reading and is the author of
‘The Four Emperors’ series. The series comprises four books – Palatine, Galba’s Men,
Otho’s Regret and Vitellius’ Feast – which cover the dramatic fall of Nero and the
chaotic year of the four emperors that followed. Palatine, published in 2015, received
an Editor’s Choice Mark from the Historical Novel Society. She has also written three
non-fiction books for Pen and Sword; How to Survive in Ancient Rome, Sex and
Sexuality in Ancient and Ancient Rome’s Worst Emperors.
L.J. recently appeared as a talking head in the Channel 5 documentary, Emperor: The
Rise and Fall of Dynasty.