Alison Sharrock

I came to Manchester in August, 2000, after eleven years at the University of Keele. Previous to that, I studied at the University of Liverpool (BA, 1984) and the University of Cambridge (PhD, 1988). I have been Editor of the Journal of Roman Studies, and also Director of Research in the School of Arts, Histories & Cultures. Most of the last 10 years has gone on being Head of the Division of ARC, then Head of the Department of CAHAE, within the School of Arts, Languages, and Cultures. Within the department, my particular interests are in the teaching of Latin literature and language. I recently developed interactive online materials to support the learning of Latin from the beginnings to advanced level, recognised by students and the University in the award of 'outstanding technology-enhanced teaching' in 2021.

My research interests range across Latin poetry from Plautus to the imperial age. I began with Ovid and to Ovid I have returned, with a range of projects, particularly in the Metamorphoses, which is currently the main focus of my attention. In between, I made a foray into Roman comedy, on which I gave the WB Stanford memorial lectures in Trinity College Dublin in 1999. A book arising from those lectures, entitled Reading Roman Comedy: Poetics and Playfulness in Plautus and Terence, was published by CUP in 2009. The other strand to my interest is in literary theory, including feminist readings of Classical literature.  Most recently, I have developed a particular interest in eco-criticism.

Current PhD supervision (start dates)

• 2020 - Lucy Mudie: Magic Mirrors: Mirror Metaphors in Ovid’s Ars Amatoria
• 2017 - Matteo Dessimone Pallavera: Time and space in Lucan’s Pharsalia

Recent PhD supervision (award dates)

• 2019 - Julene Abad Del Vecchio: Statius' Achilleid and its Literary Predecessors. A Tragic Reading of the Achilleid

• 2018 - Eleni Ntanou: Ovid and Virgil’s Pastoral Poetry 

• 2017 - Helen Dalton: Banquet of Death: Alimentary Imagery in Statius’ Thebaid