Self-described as an Embryo Academic and part-time Globe Trotter, Hannah Swithinbank can probably no longer be described as a ‘Bright Young Thing’, given the precosiosity of some. However, she’s still pretty bright, and not too old, although she has only just managed to leave university. However, she liked it so much that she’s looking to go back – albeit this time on the other side of the teacher-student divide. Still, she’s very open to the idea of doing things outside the academy, just for kicks.
Hannah has just completed her Ph.D at the University of St Andrews, and can currently be found in Cornwall working on a couple of publications and thinking about the best way to turn her doctoral thesis into a book. She works on Roman political thought and the constitution of the Roman Republic, and is also interested in political history and the history of political thought more generally, pretty much from Ancient Athens up to today. She quite enjoys livening up Ancient History events by bringing up stuff that happened after 500 A.D. and suggesting ways that the two things might be relevant to each other.
Apart from the fact that she really rather likes her subject, Hannah also enjoys academia because it allows her some time to travel. She particularly likes the occasions on which interesting conferences are thrown in exciting places around the world. She isn’t sure how many countries she has been to by now, but she knows that the list isn’t as long as she’d like it to be – even though it does cover four continents. She would be saving for a trip to the Galapagos, if only she didn’t keep spending the money on other, less expensive, travels.
Hannah’s constant companions are her cameras and her notebooks, with which she likes to record and interpret her experiences. She tends to shoot digital, but has a great deal of affection for the lo-fi fun of lomography, and would really like to be able to develop film, because it’s such such a hassle finding places to develop 120 and 110 films nowadays. She also has a moleskine habit, and is particularly fond of those little City Guides. She wishes you could get them for countries as well.
