Lectures
Invited lectures and conference papers have accompanied my research from its earliest stages — from Greek visual humour and unusual bodies to classical reception, political cartoons and propaganda.
Watch & listen
Comment la propagande nazie instrumentalisa l’antiquité gréco-romaine : l’antisémitisme dans les dessins de presse de l’entre-deux-guerres et 1939–1945.
A lecture developed from the completed chapter of Echoes of Antiquity on the use of Greco-Roman imagery in Nazi propaganda. Video with French and English subtitles.
A BBC World Service discussion with philosopher Susan Wolf and writer and philosopher Alain de Botton, chaired by Bridget Kendall.
My contribution approached the question through archaeology: how we reconstruct the meanings that objects held for people living in societies very different from our own.
2019–2025
Selected invited lectures and conference papers, presented chronologically with the most recent first.
Opening lecture in the cycle Sacré genre ! Dialogues autour de la sacralité et du féminin au Musée BIBLE+ORIENT.
Opening talk for Cities of Lost Memory: Dreaming of Antiquity at the Musée BIBLE+ORIENT.
L’antisémitisme dans les dessins de presse de l’entre-deux-guerres et 1939–1945. Les Midis de l’Antiquité.
Antisémitisme et dessins de presse.
A case study in classical reception, presented in the panel Classics in Art and Cartoons.
Entre souci d’exactitude et propagande antisémite.
Conference La perception de la Chine dans la caricature occidentale.
Traits culturels, jargon et choix du “plain style” de Robertson Davies.
Use — and abuse — of Classical Greece in addressing current affairs. Opening lecture in the Homo ridens — Humour in ancient cultures series.
19 OctVerbal humour in Ancient Greece: Jokes, Puns, and Double Entendres. Louvain-la-Neuve University, Belgium.
17 NovDe l'usage de la laideur dans une société tournée vers la beauté: paradigmes sociaux et visuels de la Grèce classique d'après les vases attiques figures. Table ronde internationale Caricature et laideur dans l'Antiquité grecque et romaine, UBO, Brest, France.
15 JulInterpreting ancient Greek visual humour. HOP Network, University of Aberdeen, UK.
5 JunLa crise grecque aux mains des dessinateurs de presse européens : usage et abus de la Grèce classique pour traiter d'un sujet contemporain. Festival de l'Histoire de l'Art, Fontainebleau, France.
27 MayLes corps émaciés dans l´art grec et romain : images de la famine, intérêt médical ou caricature ? Journée d'étude La soeur des Douleurs : La faim et la famine dans l'Antiquité. Aspects sociaux, médicaux et religieux, Sorbonne, Paris, France.
27 FebLes limites de la liberté d'expression dans la démocratie Athénienne d'après les vases grecs. University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
27 FebPandore mise en boîte : comment les dessinateurs de presse s'inspirent de l'antiquité. University of Geneva, Switzerland.
14 MayDo’s and don’t’s: INFO EVENT on European Marie Curie Individual Fellowships. University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
8 MarTradition classique et imagerie populaire. La réception de l'Antiquité dans les dessins de presse (du XXe siècle à nos jours). University of Strasbourg, France.
4 MarThe classical tradition and popular imagery. Classical reception in editorial cartoons from the 20th century to the present day. Center for Global Studies, University of Bern, Switzerland.
8 DecHumour and women at work: did women paint Greek vases? Comparative evidence with a traditional Moroccan ceramic workshop. Conference on humour and gender, Umeå University, Sweden.
25 JanVases grecs et humour graphique: comment signer son oeuvre. Le cas du peintre de Nikosthénès. Colloque international Textes et images, Université Toulouse II Le Mirail, France.
5 SepDisparate bodies in ancient artefacts: the function of caricature and pathological grotesques among Roman terracotta figurines. Conference Disparate Bodies “A Capite ad Calcem” in Ancient Rome, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
10 MayDémocratie et imagerie populaire: la réception de personnages de l'époque gréco-romaine, d'oeuvres d'art classiques et de personnages mythologiques dans les caricatures de journaux du 19ème siècle à nos jours. University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
9 MayCaricature et physiognomonie antiques. Six course-block lectures, Journées doctorales Edocsa/Callisto, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
15 FebTowards a Reconstruction of an Ancient Greek Carnival at the Kabirion Sanctuary (5th–4th centuries BC) in Central Greece. ULB, CReA-Patrimoine, Brussels, Belgium.
18 JunDemocracy and popular media: classical receptions in 19th and 20th centuries political cartoons: statesmen, mythological figures and celebrated artworks. Classics in the Modern World – a Democratic Turn?, Open University, UK.
19 MayLe terracotte grotesche nell’antichita Greco-romana: il ruolo della caricature nel comico, negli maschi teatrali et i ritratti pathologici. Historical panel Art or Neurology?, 50th National Congress of the Società dei Neurologi, Neurochirurghi e Neuroradiologi Ospedalieri, Parma, Italy.
3 AprHumour as a tool of social cohesion: images of foreigners in ancient Athens. Classical Association and Classical Association of Scotland 2009, University of Glasgow, UK.
13 MarGender archaeology: comic iconography of women and the male gaze in 5th century B.C. Athens. Histories of Humour and Laughter Workshop, Newnham College, Cambridge University, UK.
19 NovHercules comicus: a case study in the politics of natural justice, from Greek temples to San Marco in Venice. Archaeological Society, Oxford University, UK.
21 MarThe Archaeology of Humour: a case study. Complex and Literature Societies Seminar Series, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UK.
21 FebA reconstruction of Greek Carnival at the Kabirion sanctuary in ancient Boeotia. Bakhtin Research Centre, Sheffield University, UK.
10 JanVictory Monuments in Ancient Rome, An archaeological approach to the Power of Images. Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal, India.
2 DecAthens: Art and archaeology in the 5th century B.C. University of Reading, UK.
20 Febwww.beazley.ox.ac.uk. Conférence Internationale sur l’état actuel des publications scientifiques, École Française d’Athènes, Greece.
28 MarLes canthares du Cabirion thébain: déformations corporelles, caricature et problèmes de style. Symposium sur le corps et ses différences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
27 MarLa parodie mythologique dans la peinture de vases attique. University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
14 FebSatyrs and mythological parody in Greek vase-painting. Greek Archaeology Seminar, Institute of Archaeology, Oxford University, UK.
13 JunAfghanistan’s stolen and desecrated archaeological heritage. With Prof. Z. Tarzi, International Conference on the Obliteration of the National Heritage of Afghanistan, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK.
2 AprL’humour des Grecs. École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, Strasbourg, France.
11 MarLa représentation de la Comédie Ancienne et du drame satyrique dans la peinture de vases. Colloque sur la Comédie Antique, University of Strasbourg, France.
Research behind the talks