Classical Studies PhD Student
Joe Watkins is a PhD Candidate, currently working on his dissertation which examines ethnographic representations of Celtic peoples in both Ancient Greek and Latin. He earned his BA at the University of Georgia (2014) and attended a year of Post-Baccalaureate Studies at the University of Pennsylvania (2014-15) before teaching high school Latin in Tucker, GA for three years where he developed a strong interest in language pedagogy. He completed a Masters in Classics at the University of Kentucky (2020), earning a certificate in Latin (Language) studies as well. He is particularly interested in historiography, both Greek and Latin, and enjoys reading Thucydides, Xenophon, Sallust, and Livy. When not working, Joe enjoys cooking, camping, and drawing.
Dissertation-in-Progress
Defilers of Delphi / Rivals of Rome: Greek and Roman Constructions of “Gallic” Ethnicity
First Reader: Zsuzsanna Várhelyi
Recent Papers
- “ἔξω Ἡρακλέων στηλέων? Herodotus on the Celts in context” (Abstract Accepted) SCS Annual Meeting, 2025
- “A Clean Celt? Ethno-Linguistic Comments in Catullus 23,” SCS Annual Meeting, 2024
- “Undermining Autochthony: Ethnicity and Structure in Thucydides’ Sicilian Expedition,” UVA Graduate Student Conference, 2023
- “Peer-Pressure: Persuasion in the Embassy to Achilles,” SCS Annual Meeting, 2023
- “Getting to Know the Enemy: Livy’s Ethnographic Introduction of the Gauls,” CANE Annual Meeting, 2022
- “How to Read History: Meta-historiography in Sallust,” CAMWS Annual Meeting, 2020