Fiona McHardy

Fiona McHardy is a Professor in the History team at the Centre for Research in Society, Culture, and Social Change and Head of Student Engagement in the School of Psychology at the University of Roehampton. She joined in 2003 as the first Classics lecturer, later becoming Head of Classics (2017), Head of Classics and History (2020), and Head of Learning and Teaching (2022) before assuming her current role in 2025.

Her qualifications include:

• BA Honours in Ancient and Modern Greek
• MA in Ancient Drama and Society
• PhD on The Ideology of Revenge in Ancient Greek Culture

McHardy researches the cultural history of violence in antiquity, focusing on gender, status, and age dynamics. Current projects include a monograph on gender-based violence in ancient Greece, an edited volume on cross-cultural violence in antiquity, and studies of battlefield mutilation and neonatal violence. She maintains long-standing interests in revenge ethics across Homeric epic, Greek tragedy, and modern Greek folklore.

Her publications consistently explore violence, gender, and pedagogy in classical contexts, with recent works analyzing battlefield practices, women's legal narratives in Athens, and diversity initiatives in classical education.

Awards recognizing her contributions:

• Teaching Literature Book Award (2015)
• University of Roehampton Teaching Fellowship (2008)
• Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching (2019)

She teaches modules including Violence and Law in Ancient Greece and Tragedy: Classical, Shakespearean, Cinematic. She actively supervises PhD students—currently guiding research on combat trauma and female trickster archetypes—and has mentored seven completed theses covering topics from sexual violence in oratory to Euripidean tragedy. As series editor for Intersectionality in Antiquity (Edinburgh UP) and co-editor for Classical Pedagogy in the 21st Century (Routledge), she shapes scholarly discourse in classical studies.