Juliette Harrisson

Biography

Juliette Harrisson specialises in the reception of ancient Greece and Rome in modern popular culture, and in myth, religion and folklore in the ancient Roman world. She is currently working on a project on ancient Greece and Rome in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld with Martin Lindner, University of Göttingen, and on an edited volume, Playful Classics, with Martin Lindner and Luis Unceta Gómez, University of Madrid.

She holds a BA (Hons) in Ancient History from the University of Birmingham, an MA in Myth from the University of Bristol (funded by the AHRC), and a PhD in Classics from the University of Birmingham (also funded by the AHRC). She has taught at the University of Birmingham, the Open University and the University of Liverpool and has been at the History department at Newman for 12 years.

She has edited or co-edited two volumes, Imagining the Afterlife in the Ancient World (Routledge 2019) and Memory and Urban Religion in the Ancient World (Bloomsbury, 2012). Her monograph, Dreams and Dreaming in the Ancient World: Cultural Memory and Imagination was published by Bloomsbury in 2013. She has co-organised three successful international conferences (‘Imagines VII – Playful Classics’, University of Göttingen, 2021, ‘Imagining the Afterlife in the Ancient World’, Newman University and the University of Birmingham, 2016, and ‘Cultural Memory and religion in the ancient city’, University of Birmingham, 2010).

She is a member of the Classical Association and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Historical Fictions. She is External Examiner for History for Wrexham Glyndwr University. She is currently supervising two PhD students at Newman, working on the Greek New Testament, and on Near Death Experiences in the ancient world.

Profile

Research Interests

Juliette’s primary research interests lie in the reception of the ancient world in modern popular culture, and in myth, folklore and religion in the Roman world. She is currently working on a project on the reception of the ancient world in the works of Terry Pratchett with Martin Lindner, University of Göttingen, and on an edited volume on Playful Classics with Martin Lindner and Luis Unceta Gòmez, University of Madrid (forthcoming from Bloomsbury in 2024). She is also working on ancient ghost stories, and shares this research on her podcast Creepy Classics. She is currently supervising two PhD students, one working on the Greek New Testament, and the other on Near Death Experiences in the ancient world.

 

Teaching
Juliette is co-Programme Lead for History at Newman. She teaches all classes relating to the ancient world, contributing to team taught modules at Levels 4 and 5, and teaching a specialist module on ancient myth and religion at Level 6. She supervises dissertations in ancient history, history in popular culture, and creative writing. She also teaches on the Applied Writing and Drama programmes.

 

Administrative Responsibilities
Juliette is co-Programme Lead for History. She sits on the Mitigating Circumstances Board and the Minor Amendments Panel.

 

Membership of Professional Organisations
Member of the Classical Association and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Other Activities

1st supervisor for PhD student Gregory Shushan, PhD in Theology and Philosphy, title ‘To Die and Rise Again: Near-Death Experiences in Classical Antiquity’.

3rd supervisor for PhD student Pere Cane Gombau, Phd in Theology, title ‘The Greek Text of John in Codex Bezae: A Linguistic Analysis and Study of the Jewish Context’.

Conferences

‘Echoes of Antiquity via intermediary texts in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld’, keynote speech given at the conference Echoes of Antiquity, held in Warsaw, Poland, 15-16 June 2023.

‘What is historical fiction? Good-Bye Lenin! and HBO/Sky’s Chernobyl’ given at the Historical Fictions Research Network annual conference, held in Salzburg, Austria, 21-22 February 2020.

‘Gondor: A Western Byzantium’ given at Tolkien 2019, held in Birmingham, England, 7-11 August 2019.

‘Greek and Roman warfare in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld’ given at the Historical Fictions Research Network annual conference, held in Manchester, England, 22-23 February 2019.

‘Ghost stories as embedded historical narratives’, to be given at the Historical Fictions Research Network Conference, to be held at the Premier Inn, Trentham Gardens, 24-25 February 2018.

‘The concept of nostos in Star Trek: Voyager and the reimagined Battlestar Galactica’, to be given at the Classical Association Annual Conference, to be held at the University of Leicester, 6-9 April 2018.

‘”It’s this wretched country”’: Screen portrayals of Roman Britain’ (with Tony Keen), given at the Historical Fictions Research Network Conference, held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, 24 – 25 February 2017.

‘The afterlife in popular culture’, given at the conference ‘Imagining the Afterlife in the Ancient World’, held at Newman University with the University of Birmingham, 21 – 23 June 2016.

I, Claudius’ Augustus in text and on screen’ at the conference ‘Commemorating Augustus’, at the University of Leeds, 18 – 20 August 2014.

‘Sex, power and the idea of the ‘beloved’ in Robin Hobb’s Tawny Man Trilogy’ at ‘Diversity in Speculative Fiction’, an academic conference held as part of Loncon 3, 14-18 August 2014.

‘Narratives of occupation in The Eagle’ at the Classical Association Annual Conference, held at the University of Nottingham, 13 – 16 April 2014.

‘Oracles in Vampire Fiction: Greek Oracles in Angel: The Series and The Southern Vampire Mysteries’ at the conference ‘Swords, Sorcery, Sandals and Space’ held at the University of Liverpool, 29 June – 1 July 2013.

‘Dreams and Prophecy in The Roman Mysteries’ at the Classical Association Annual Conference, held at the University of Reading, 3 – 6 April 2013.

‘“Roman” Imagery in Gladiatorial Contests in Speculative Fiction’ at the conference ‘The Influence of Greek and Latin Antiquity in Contemporary Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works’, held at the  Université de Rouen and the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Études, 7-9 June 2012.

‘The Virgin’s Dilemma’ at the Classical Association Annual Conference, held at the University of Exeter, 11-14 April 2012.

‘Isis and Venus in Egypt and Beyond’ at the conference ‘Venus as Muse. Figurations of the Creative’, held at the University of Cologne, 18-20 January 2012.

‘Using Ultra-Violence to Mark the Ancient World as Self or Other’ at the conference ‘Cinema and Antiquity: 2000-2010’ at the University of Liverpool, 12-14 July 2011.

‘Culturally Remembering the Mycenaeans in the Homeric Poems’ at the Classical Association Annual Conference at Durham University, 15-18 April 2011.

‘Cultural Memory and Isis in the Greco-Roman World’ at the colloquium ‘Cultural Memory and Religion in the Ancient City’ at the University of Birmingham, 5-6 July 2010.

Latinitas Populi: Latin in Popular Culture’ at the Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Ancient Literature at the University of Birmingham, 14-15 November 2009.

‘The Domestication of Greek Mythology in the Chronicles of Narnia’ at the conference ‘Asterisks and Obelisks: Greece and Rome in Children’s Literature’, at the University of Wales, Lampeter, 6-10 July 2009.

‘Philo and Josephus on dreams: The interplay of identities’ given at the Classical Association Annual Conference (held jointly with the Classical Association of Scotland), at the University of Glasgow, 3-6 April 2009.

‘Incubation in the Ancient World: The development of a ritual’ at the conference ‘Medicine in the Ancient Mediterranean World’ at the University of Cyprus, 27-29 September 2008.

Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals

(2019) ‘Fantastical History: Dreams in The Roman Mysteries’, in Journal of Historical Fictions, Vol 2, No. 1.

(2010) ‘The Domestication of Classical Mythology in the Chronicles of Narnia’, in New Voices in Classical Reception Research 5, http://www2.open.ac.uk/ClassicalStudies/GreekPlays/newvoices/Issue5/Harrisson.p

(2010) ‘Dico, dico dico: Latin in Popular Culture’ in Rosetta Volume 8.5,Supplementary Edition: AMPAL 2009 Proceedings, 34-46, http://www.rosetta.bham.ac.uk/issue8supp/harrisson_latin.pdf.

Books

(2013) Dreams and Dreaming in the Roman Empire: Cultural Memory and Imagination. London: Bloomsbury.

Edited books

(2018) Imagining the Afterlife in the Ancient World. London: Routledge, with M. Bommas and P. Roy (2012) Memory and Urban Religion in the Ancient World. London and New York: Bloomsbury.

Chapters in books

(Forthcoming) ‘Coda: The Interaction of Play and Other Receptions’ in M. Lindner, J. Harrisson and L. Unceta Gómez (eds) Playful Classics: Classical Reception as a Creative Process. London: Bloomsbury.

(2021) ‘”Escape and Consolation”: Gondor as the Ancient Mediterranean and Rohan as the Germanic World in The Lord of the Rings’ in H. Williams (ed.), Tolkien and the Classical World, Zollikofen: Walking Tree Publishers, 329-348.

(2019) with M. Lindner ‘Phantom Empires – Imperial Rome in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld’ in L. Unceta Gómez (ed.), En los márgenes de Roma. Apropiaciones y reinterpretaciones de la Antigüedad romana en la cultura de masas contemporánea.

(2019) ‘Literary underworlds, folklore and belief: Ghosts and the Gates of Sleep in Propertius 4.7’, in J. Harrisson (ed.), Imagining the Afterlife in the Ancient World. Abingdon: Routledge.

(2017) ‘Masterpiece Theatre: I, Claudius and ancient Rome as televised period drama’ in A. Pomeroy (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 271-292.

(2016) ‘“I am no martyr upon cross”: Gannicus’ life and heroic death’ in A. Augoustakis (ed.), Reimagining Spartacus (STARZ). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 52-68.

(2015) ‘Antony and Atia: Tragic romance in Rome’, in M. Cyrino (ed.), Rome Season Two: Trial and Triumph. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 155-168.

(2014) ‘The Development of the Practice of Incubation in the Ancient World’ in Medicine and Healing in the Ancient Mediterranean World, D. Michaelides (ed.), Oxford: Oxbow Books, 284-290.

(2014) ‘Les combats de gladiateurs dans la fiction speculative: Star Trek et Hunger Games’, in M. Bost-Fiévet and S. Provini (eds.), L’Antiquité gréco-latine dans l’imaginaire contemporain: Fantasy, Science-Fiction, Fantastique. Paris: Classiques Garnier, 321-338.

(2012) ‘Cultural Memory and Isis in the Greco-Roman world’, in Memory and Urban Religion in the Ancient World, M. Bommas, J. Harrisson and P. Roy (eds.). London and New York: Bloomsbury, 213-236.

(2011) ‘Jewish Memory and Identity in the First Century AD: Philo and Josephus on dreams’, in M. Bommas (ed.), Cultural Memory and Identity in Ancient Societies (Volume One of the series Cultural Memory and History in Antiquity), London and New York: Continuum Press, 61-78.

Non-refereed journal articles

(2016) ‘Shipping in Plato’s Symposium’ in “The Classical Canon and/as Transformative Work,” edited by Ika Willis, special issue, Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 21. http://dx.doi.org/10.3983/twc.2016.0690.

Harrisson, J. (2009/10) ‘Did the Greeks imagine that the dead contacted the living through dreams?’ in Journal of Hellenic Religion 3, http://www.journalofhellenicreligion.markoulakispublications.org.uk/volumes/did-the-greeksimagine-that-the-dead-contacted-the-living-through-dreams.

Reports and reviews

(2018) Review: Padilla 2016, Classical Myth in Four Films of Alfred Hitchcock, in Journal of Hellenic Studies.

(2018) Review: Slater (ed) 2017, Voice and Voices in Antiquity: Orality and Literacy in the Ancient World, vol. 11, in Pacific Coast Philology.

(2016) Review: Rogers and Eldon Stevens (eds) 2015, Classical Traditions in Science Fiction, in Pacific Coast Philology, 51 (1), pp. 112-116.

(2015) Review: Bricault and Versluys (eds.) 2014, Power, Politics and the Cults of Isis, in The Classical Review, 66 (1), pp. 184-186.

(2012) Review: James 2011, Ovid’s Myth of Pygmalion on Screen, in The Classical Review, 63 (1), pp. 277-279.

(2009) Review article: Calame 2009, Greek Mythology: Poetics, Pragmatics and Fiction and Woodard (ed.) 2007, The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology, in Rosetta 7, http://www.rosetta.bham.ac.uk/issue7/greek-mythology.

(2009) Review: Harris 2009, Dreams and Experience in Classical Antiquity in Rosetta 7, http://www.rosetta.bham.ac.uk/issue7/harris-dreams.

(2008) Review: Taylor 2007, Classics and the Bible in Rosetta 4, http://www.rosetta.bham.ac.uk/Issue_04/Harrisson.htm.

(2007) ‘Teaching Myth’ in Rosetta 3, http://www.rosetta.bham.ac.uk/Issue_03/Harrisson.htm.