About Me

I am an Associate Professor in Classics (Roman History) at the University of Durham.

Research

My research interests include the languages of ancient Italy, linguistic and cultural contact in the ancient world, ancient slavery, personal names, Greek and Roman comedy, and epigraphy. I work mostly on historical sociolinguistics, especially multilingualism, language contact and gender linguistics.

My current research project, ‘The Linguistics of Roman Slavery’, is funded by the Leverhulme Trust. My previous research project, ‘Connectivity and competition: multilingualism in ancient Italy‘, was funded by an AHRC Early Career Leadership Fellowship. My first book, Oscan in Southern Italy and Sicily, was published by Cambridge University Press in October 2015, and my second book Italy Before Rome was published by Routledge in 2021. You can find out more about my other publications on my publications page.

Teaching

I have taught courses in Greek, Latin and Indo-European linguistics, Latin language and Latin literature, and Greek and Roman history from c. 500 BCE to 150 CE.

Biography

I grew up in Chelmsford, Essex, and studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge. During my PhD, I was an Erasmus student at Ca’ Foscari, Venezia and I was lucky enough to be involved in three productions of the Cambridge Greek Play.

After my PhD, I was a Research Fellow in Classics at Gonville and Caius College (2013-2016) and an Affiliated Lecturer at the Faculty of Classics, Cambridge. I was also an Affiliated Researcher on the AHRC-funded Greek in Italy project (2014-2018) and a Rome Awardee at the British School at Rome (2014-2015). In 2016, I moved to the University of Exeter as a Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, before coming to Durham as an Assistant Professor in 2021. I was promoted to Associate Professor in 2023. I won the Philip Leverhulme Prize for my contribution to the field of ancient linguistics and epigraphy in 2024.

I am currently the co-chair of the Women’s Classical Committee, having previously been its ECR liaison and a steering committee member. I’m also the treasurer of the Reid Trust, a charity which provides small grants to promote women’s education. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and I mentor applications for HEA fellowships through Durham’s Mentor and Assessor Network.

Contact Me

katherine.mcdonald@durham.ac.uk

Bluesky: @katherinemcdon.bsky.social

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0721-3303

Other sites

Greek in Italy Project

Women’s Classical Committee

Cambridge Greek Play