I started this site to share thoughts and reflections on my reading of and research on Homer, ancient texts, and their reception. These posts began on Instagram; the conversations they generated inspired me to create a dedicated space for further and deeper discussion.
I hold a PhD in Teaching and Learning from New York University and am the director of the Institute for Classics Education, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting educators who teach Homer and ancient Greek texts in English classrooms. My writing and research focus on Homer and classical Greek texts. My publications include study guides for the epics Iliad, Odyssey, and Argonautica; numerous plays by Sophocles and Euripides and dialogues of Plato; Marcus’ Aurelius’ Meditations, and the introduction to Achilles the Hero (Simon & Schuster 2023). I am currently working on a book, The Epic Women of Homer.
Frequently asked questions…
📜 What inspired your love for classics & ancient literature?
One simple reason is curiosity about the past and human experiences, especially what endures. I’m also drawn to the tension between the familiar and the strange. Growing up Greek in America, being pulled between two cultures has made me sensitive to how we can be the same and different simultaneously. I think this has helped make me more empathetic than I would otherwise have been, which I believe is one of the most empowering experiences you can have. Classic literature can be a vicarious experience of this.
📜 What is your PhD in?
My PhD is in Teaching and Learning, and my specific research was on text reception and source-based writing. I’m interested in the intersection between verbal art and tradition, writer and reader. I’m especially concerned with how we teach learners to think with and about texts. My MA coursework was in literature & comparative arts, which is the context in which I studied ancient classics. The last few years, I’ve focused on fiction that engages classical texts, and this journey has taken me places I would not have expected. We never stop learning!
📜 Favorite part of classics you’ve studied?
Everything Homer & learning ancient Greek. The latter has illuminated my understanding of the former in a powerful way. Whether one has the interest or patience to develop reading fluency, just dipping in a toe can be transformative.
📜 Anything you hope to study?
So many things! One in particular that I think we struggle with in the modern world is dualities, which suffuse ancient texts and which I think in some ways may be the key to Greek identity.
📜Hobbies?
I love traveling and exploring, especially museums and sites—archaeological, historical, living history.