Staff Profiles
Dr John Holton
Director of Education (HCA), Senior Lecturer in Ancient History
- Address: School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Newcastle University
Armstrong Building
Queen Victoria Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
United Kingdom
Armstrong 1.34
Biography
I am originally from Bradford, West Yorkshire, though my family moved to Devon when I was young and adaptable enough to lose my northern accent. I attended a state comprehensive school before going to Swansea University, where I obtained BA (first class) and MA (distinction) in Ancient History. I was then awarded the inaugural A.G. Leventis scholarship in Hellenic Studies for my PhD in Classics at the University of Edinburgh, where I wrote a thesis on early Hellenistic kingship under Prof. Andrew Erskine. I have held a permanent lectureship in Newcastle since 2015, and became Senior Lecturer in 2022. I am a first-generation university entrant from a working-class background, which is an important part of my identity and informs my deep commitment to making university education work for everybody.
Recent roles and responsibilities
Internal work
I have a history of leadership and management in educational matters, as well as an extensive record of committee and group work as both leader and collaborator. I have wide experience in digital education, assessment and feedback, programme design, and quality assurance in particular. My primary reponsibility since January 2021 has been as Director of Education for the School of History, Classics and Archaeology (HCA), where I have strategic leadership of an education portfolio with approximately 1,000 students.
Since January 2024 I have also been Newcastle University's Academic Lead for Digital Assessment, where I chair the cross-unit Digital Assessment Group, support digital education across the institution, help drive and influence policy, and contribute to delivering the university's Education for Life strategy.
Among a longer record of service, other recent roles have included:
- Academic Lead for Canvas and Chair of the Canvas Management Group, Newcastle University
- Professional Standards Framework (PSF) Mentor, Newcastle University
- Member of School Executive Board, HCA
- Chair of the School Education Committee, HCA
- Chair of the School Employability Group, HCA
- Member of the Digital Education Sub-Committee, Newcastle University
- Member of Faculty Education Committee, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- Degree Programme Director, Classics and Ancient History
- Admissions Tutor and Selector, Classics and Ancient History
External work
Outside of the university, I am a member of Council and a Trustee for the Classical Association, the primary subject association for Classics and Ancient History in the UK, where I co-chair its Teaching Board (the CATB). Alongside acting as an officer for the organisation, in this role I help organise national efforts to support schools and teachers to deliver classical curricula, provide teacher CPD, engage in public policy work and advocacy (including qualifications review and reform), and develop new partnerships.
I was part of the advisory group writing the new Subject Benchmark Statement for Classics and Ancient History (2022), for the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), collaborating with colleagues across the UK and helping to develop a vision for higher education in my discipline that evolves with the time and meets future demands.
Since 2023, I have been a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, in recognition of my body of work supporting and influencing educational practice within my institution and nationally.
I am also a Governor of Emmanuel College, Gateshead, where I serve on the Local Governing Body and hold a particular brief focusing on Sixth Form Curriculum and Student Experience.
Research and scholarship expertise
My subject-based research focuses on (ancient) political and intellectual history, specifically empires, monarchy, ideology, and historiography. My major recent project is two sole-authored volumes on kingship in the Hellenistic period and Alexander the Great's Successors, which have been submitted to Bloomsbury and are currently in the final steps of publication. (See more under 'Research'.) On these topics I regularly review articles and proposals for a number of publishers internationally.
On the pedagogy side, I have strong expertise in digital education, skills-based learning, employability, interdisciplinarity (including diversification of provision), and assessment and feedback. I recently led projects in major areas of student experience and teaching and learning, including redeveloping UG and PGT marking criteria in the School, designing a new HCA Canvas community interface, and developing models of continuous and formative assessments. I designed and introduced Newcastle's innovative Global Ancient Histories module (now compulsory for V110 Ancient History, and widely available for enrolment in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences). I have also sat on the programme committees for the University’s Learning and Teaching Conference and the Association for Learning Technology's annual conference. You can also see a couple of my recent write-ups of my practice in the university's Case Studies of Effective Practice:
Educational projects
I have worked widely on enhancing education and student experience at Newcastle, both in my own practice and in my unit, faculty, and institution. As part of this, I have led or contributed to the following projects:
- Converting Ancient Languages Modules to Blended Learning Delivery : digital project with Learning and Teaching Development Service, 2023
- Creating an HCA student community on Canvas : digital project with Learning and Teaching Development Service, 2023.
- Developing inclusive and supportive marking criteria through co-creation with students : HCA project with 3 x student interns as co-leads, 2022-23
- Modelling formative and continuous assessment practices in HCA : HCA project with 2 x student interns, 2022.
- Embedding technology-enhanced learning practices in a diverse school context : digital project with Learning and Teaching Development Service, 2021—2022.
Feedback, Guidance, and Consultation hours, 2024/25
- TBC
Teaching experience, 2015-2024
As module leader
- HCA1008: Global Ancient Histories
- CAH2006: Hellenistic Empires from Alexander to Cleopatra
- CAH3010: The Life and Afterlife of Alexander the Great
- CAG1011/1012: Intermediate Greek Language and Literature 1 & 2
- CAC8000: Research Skills and Development
- CAC8110: Ancient Cultures in Context
- CAC8011: The Writing of History
- CAH8020: Masterclass in Ancient History
- CAC8106/8107: Independent Research Project 1 & 2
- CAC8090: Dissertation for MA Classics and Ancient History
- HCA8000: Independent Study with Language (ancient or modern)
As contributing lecturer:
- CAC1015: How Should I Live? An Introduction to Ancient Philosophy
- CAC3000/CAH3000: Dissertation (Classical Studies & Ancient History)
- CAG2002: Special Study in Greek
- CAH1012: West Meets East: Greek History and Society, 776-200 BC
- CAH2009: Portfolio in Ancient History I: Commentaries
- CAH2020: Greek and Roman Religions
- CAH2208: Issues in Ancient History
- CLA2002: Special Study in Latin
- SEL1023: Transformations
- SHS1000: HCA Academic Mentoring Stage 1
- HIS3020: Reading History
Current activity
Historical research
- I have submitted and am currently guiding to publication two monographs on Alexander's Successors and the creation of Hellenistic kingship, which examine the ideological development of kingship in the tumultuous period after Alexander the Great's death. Poetry, inscriptions, and coins feature heavily in the evidence base for this project, studying which has created a whole series of ramifications to be explored in future research.
- I am collaborating with Micaela Langellotti on a new research project on the role of sacrifice in the construction of political relationships. We are hosting a conference at Newcastle University in December 2024, then scoping a longer research project.
- I am currently researching and writing a chapter about class conflict and regime change in connection with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the prolonged civil strife among the Macedonian armies in Babylon that followed.
- I am currently researching and writing a chapter about framework of dynastic power in Ptolemaic Egypt with specific reference to the last Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra (VII) and her reception.
- A further focus of my research is on the intellectual world of Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian writing a world-history in the first century BC. Areas of particular interest are Diodorus' early modern reception, his literary and generic backgrounds, and his place in modern European historiography. One article has appeared in 2021 - ‘Thomas Hobbes, Diodorus Siculus, and Early Humanity’ (Hobbes Studies 34.2, 172-200) - and more will come in the near future.
Pedagogy and scholarship
- I am currently writing an article based on my recently completed project of re-developing marking criteria in an interdisciplinary unit with approximately 1,000 students.
- I am currently writing an article reflecting on my experience of introducing, and then leading for three years (2020-2023), the innovative ancient history module HCA1008: Global Ancient Histories. This is supported by a grant from the Education Committee of the Council of UK Classical Departments (CUCD).
Postgraduate supervision and examination
I welcome potential PhD students wishing to work on any of the above areas, but also in the field of Hellenistic culture and history more broadly. I have examined research degrees within the UK and internationally. My recent PhD supervisions include:
- ‘Royal Ideology and the Hunt: Cultural interaction between Europe and Asia in the reign of Alexander the Great’ (completion in 2019)
- ‘The Exiles of the Sullan Regime and the Elites of the Empire: Interaction, Discourse, Politics, and Integration in the 70s BC’ (completion in 2022)
- 'Olympian Shackles: An examination of the relationship between Greek Mythology, Identity and Material Culture in Hellenistic Greece' (completion due in 2024)
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Articles
- Holton JR. Thomas Hobbes, Diodorus Siculus, and Early Humanity. Hobbes Studies 2021, 34(2), 172-200.
- Holton JR. Demetrios Poliorketes, Son of Poseidon and Aphrodite: Cosmic and memorial significance in the Athenian ithyphallic hymn. Mnemosyne 2014, 67(3), 370-390.
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Authored Books
- Holton JR. Royal Traditions and the Consolidation of Power by Alexander's Successors. London: Bloomsbury, 2023. Submitted.
- Holton JR. Alexander's Successors and the Creation of Hellenistic Kingship. London: Bloomsbury, 2023. Submitted.
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Book Chapters
- Holton JR. Cleopatra and the paradigm of Ptolemaic dynastic power. In: Lisa Maurice, Ayelet Peer, Neil Bar, ed. Companion to the Receptions of Cleopatra VII. Leiden: Brill, 2025. In Preparation.
- Holton JR. Class warfare in Babylon: political conflict and regime control on the death of Alexander. In: Kenneth Moore, ed. Intersectional Alexander. London: Bloomsbury, 2025. In Preparation.
- Holton JR. The Reception of Alexander in the Ptolemaic Dynasty. In: Moore, KR, ed. Brill's Companion to the Reception of Alexander the Great. Leiden: Brill, 2018, pp.96–118.
- Holton JR. The Ideology of Seleukid Joint Kingship: the Case of Seleukos, Son of Antiochos I. In: Erickson K, ed. The Seleukid Empire, 281-222 BC: War Within the Family. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales, 2018, pp.101-128.
- Holton JR. Philanthropia, Athens, and Democracy in Diodorus Siculus: The Athenian Debate. In: Mirko Canevaro and Benjamin Gray, ed. The Hellenistic Reception of Classical Athenian Democracy and Political Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018, pp.177-208.
- Holton JR. Ptolemy Keraunos. In: Bagnall,RS; Broderson,K; Champion,CB; Erskine,A; Huebner,S, ed. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History [online]. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2016.
- Holton JR. Tyre (Lebanese city). In: R.S. Bagnall, K. Broderson, C.B. Champion, A. Erskine, and S. Huebner, ed. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History (updated online edition). Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
- Holton JR. Demetrios' War. In: R.S. Bagnall, K. Broderson, C.B. Champion, A. Erskine, and S. Huebner, ed. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013, pp.2003-4.
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Reviews
- Holton JR. Review of: Stefano G. Caneva, L. Lorenzon, The materiality of Hellenistic ruler cults. Kernos. Supplément 36. Liège: Centre international d'étude de la religion grecque antique. Presses Universitaires de Liège, 2020. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2022.
- Holton J. Review of: Robin Waterfield, The Making of a King: Antigonus Gonatas of Macedon and the Greeks (Oxford: OUP, 2021). Royal Studies Journal 2022, 9(2), 194-195.
- Holton JR. Review of: Alexander Meeus, The history of the Diadochoi in book XIX of Diodoros' ‘Bibliotheke’: a historical and historiographical commentary. Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, 149. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2022. In Preparation.
- Holton JR. MacDonald, E. Hannibal: A Hellenistic Life (New Haven and London 2015) [Book review]. Classical Review 2017, 67(1), 265-267.