Current MA Students
Interests: Visual representations of the marginalized and oppressed in Greek and Roman art and architecture; Greek and Roman Archaeology; slavery in the ancient world; Roman archaeology.
Rachel grew up in Surrey, BC. She is an avid reader and life-long athlete. She attended Western University in London, ON for her undergraduate degree. While working towards her degree, she was a member of Western Mustangs’ Figure Skating team, as well as being a general member with Western’s Student Athlete Mental Health Initiative (SAMHI) group and volunteered backstage on two of Theatre Westerns productions. She completed her HBA in an Honors Specialization in Creative Writing, English Language, and Literature with a Major in Classical Studies in June 2022.
She is enrolled in Brock University’s MA in Classics, in the Art and Archaeology stream. Her current research interests include the visual representations of the marginalized and oppressed in Greek and Roman art and architecture, Greek and Roman Archaeology, and slavery in the ancient world. And while attending Brock University, Rachel looks forward to continuing her skating career with Brock’s Figure Skating team.
2023 recipient of the Dean of Graduate Studies spring Research Fellowship
2024 recipient of the Brock Badgers Academic Excellence Award
Interests:
2023 recipient of the Brock university Dean’s Medal
2023 recipient of the Harry C. Maynard Scholarship
2023 recipient of the Ontario Classical Association Award for Achievement in Ancient Languages
2023 recipient of the Society for Classical Studies Distinguished Student Award
2023 recipient of the Governor General Silver Medal
2024 recipient of the Society for Classical Studies Distinguished Student Award
Interests: Greek and Roman mythology; Classical reception; the depiction of the Greek and Roman gods in popular culture, especially in film, graphic novels, and comics.
Madelyn was born and raised in Maple Ridge, BC. She attended the nearby University of British Columbia, where she received her BA with Honours in Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies (emphasis Classical Studies) in 2021. Her undergraduate thesis examined the portrayal of the Greek gods in Wonder Woman comics and film, which cemented her interest in the use of ancient myth and history in modern media. In her MA project here at Brock, she is researching literary portrayals of Briseis, the enslaved woman at the centre of the Iliad, from Homeric epic to contemporary novels. By examining receptions that give this character a new voice, Madelyn will explore how Briseis can be read as a commentary on violence against women in conflict zones across millennia.
2023 recipient of the Jack M. Miller Excellence in Research Award
2023 recipient of the Dean of Graduate Studies Spring Research Fellowship
2023 recipient of the Classical Association of Canada Outstanding Student Award
2023 recipient of the Society for Classical Studies Distinguished Student Award
2024 recipient of the Brock Badgers Academic Excellence Award
Interests: Greek and Roman Archaeology; Roman household material culture; Space Syntax and Archaeology; Roman frescos.
Miranda was born and raised in Halifax, NS. She attended Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB for her undergraduate degree. She completed her BA with Honors in Visual and Material Culture Studies with a Major in Classical Studies in May 2023. Her undergraduate thesis was the analysis and contextualization of a catalogue of unpublished small finds from the Sanctuary of Venus at Pompeii. In 2019 and 2022 Miranda participated in the Venus Pompeiana Project field school excavating at the Sanctuary of Venus at Pompeii. In 2022 she also participated in the Metaponto Archaeological Project which is located at Incornata ‘greca’ an Iron Age, Oenotrian-Greek settlement in Southern Italy.
She is enrolled in Brock University’s MA in Classics, in the Art and Archaeology stream. Her current research interests include the Roman household material culture, the visual representation of different cultures in Roman houses, and accessibility in curatorial practices focusing on classical objects.
2022 recipient of the Outstanding Achievement in Visual and Material Culture Studies award
2023 recipient of the Department Prize for Outstanding Commitment to Visual and Material Literacy award
2024 recipient of the Danielle Anne Parks Memorial Scholarship
2024 recipient of the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC)
2024 recipient of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS) Outstanding Accomplishment Award
2024 recipient of the Dean of Graduate Studies Excellence Scholarship
Interests: Latin language and literature; social and religious history of Rome; Latin philology and the study of commentaries.
I am a part-time, mature student in my first year of my Master’s. I was a nurse for many years, and I am now enjoying my second life as a perpetual student.
I am interested in pretty much everything Classics, but my MRP will be focused on creating a Latin commentary. I enjoy the history and especially the archaeology. I have been on six digs so far and I hope to continue volunteering on different archaeological projects for many years.
2022 recipient of the Frederick H. Casler Award in Latin
2022 recipient of the Brock University Classics Distinguished Student Award
2022 recipient of the Society for Classical Studies Distinguished Student Award
Interests: Maritime archaeology; Greek and Roman archaeology, shipbuilding, trade and exchange; Greek and Roman pottery.
Cassidy graduated from Trent University with a BA Hon. in Archaeology and a minor in History. Her specialization was in Mediterranean Studies. Her undergraduate thesis was on demonstrating the use of Predictive Modeling on shipwreck locations in Lake Ontario with Professor James Conolly. In 2022 she participated in a Field School in Italy with Florida State University working on a Bath Complex of the Roman Colony of Cosa. Since then, she has been working in Ontario CRM with various archaeological companies and thoroughly enjoys fieldwork and gaining experience in the field.
Going forward, she would like to continue her PADI Scuba Licensing with an Advanced Open Water Certification and has a strong interest in Maritime Archaeology and underwater landscapes.
2020 recipient of the Norma Miller Essay Prize
2024 recipient of the Danielle Anne Parks Memorial Scholarship
2024 recipient of the Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s program (SSHRC)
Interests: Greek and Roman archaeology, especially mortuary archaeology; Museum Studies; 3-D modelling of ancient artifacts and public access to museum collections.
Jessie holds a First Class Honors Degree in History and Classics from Brock University. In undergraduate studies, they completed a Marzamemi Maritime Heritage Project field school and obtained work experience in the museum and CRM fields. All archaeology and museum studies are included in their broad interests in addition to Greek prehistory and domestic archaeology. Their research will focus on museum studies, working with the decontextualized objects of the Cypriote Museum to understand how to present these objects and others like them to the public, how to make them accessible to other researchers and how to create effective online exhibitions. In the future, they hope to continue working in museum studies with a variety of historical and ancient artefacts in digital formats.
2022 recipient of the Brock University Department of Classics Book Prize in Ancient Art and Archaeology
2022 recipient of the Willowbank School of Restoration Arts / V. & K. Poulimenos Practicum Award
2023 recipient of the Dean of Graduate Studies Spring Research Fellowship
Interests: Ancient Mythologies (especially cosmogonies and succession myths); Ancient religions; Mystery religions; Ethnozoology; Thracian culture
Alumni
What have some of our recent graduates been doing since they completed their degrees?
- PhD programs at McMaster University, SUNY Buffalo, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Chicago, University of Cincinnati, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Toronto, Western University, York University, Leeds University
- Osgoode Hall Law School
- Fellowships at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens
- Master’s program in conservation at the Getty Institute in Los Angeles
- Bachelor’s of Education program at Brock University
- Cultural resource management and contract archaeology in Ontario
- Archival work for the Canadian Armed Forces
- Archaeological illustration work for classical archaeologists and social historians working in Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey
- Editorial intern for Canadian Scholars’ Press
- Employment at the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation at Brock University
- Employment at the Ministry of Education in Victoria, British Columbia
- Law clerk
- Market research manager at Intuit
- Project Coordinator for PI Fine Art/Creative Art
- Social Media Coordinator for Faculty of Humanities, Brock University
- Teaching at a community college in Ohio
- Technical Account Manager at Igloo Software
Overseas projects
Current and former students have been or presently are involved in faculty research projects overseas in:
- Bodrum, Turkey
- Burgaz, Turkey
- Gournia, Crete
- Larnaca, Cyprus
- Marzamemi, Italy
- Nemea, Greece
- Pantelleria, Italy
In addition, students have worked on campus and abroad on research and manuscript preparation for projects concerning gardens, gender, gladiators, Greek prostitution, shipwrecks, and slavery.
Thesis and Major Research Paper Topics
The following is a sample of some of the topics addressed in theses and major research papers (supervisor in brackets) completed in the department:
- Snakes in Roman Medical Thought (von Stackelberg)
- Step by Step Stories: Experiential Narratives in the Great Hunt Mosaic at Piazza Armerina (Murray)
- Early Christian Martyr Cults (Carter)
- Speech acts in the Homeric Hymns (Nickel)
- Homosexual subculture in Classical Athens (Glazebrook)
- Archaeological ethics and the preservation of Cypriote antiquities (Greene)
- Childhood disability in the Roman world (Dolansky)
- Gender and Bodily Adornment in Grace Circle B at Mycenae (Smith)
- Propertius and Augustan identity (Merriam)
- Roman Wall Painting in the House of the Menander, Pompeii (von Stackelberg)
- Intra-Regionality in Etruscan Tomb Paintings (Murray)
- Mycenaean hunting iconography (Smith)
- Rape narratives in Ovid’s Fasti (Dolansky)
- Female authority in the oikos (Glazebrook)
- Dreams in Homer and Herodotus (Nickel)
- Shopping and marketplace in the Classical agora (Greene)
- Numidian elites and wars in North Africa in the third century BCE (Carter)
