Mary Beard (classicist)
Encyclopedia
Winifred Mary Beard is Professor of Classics
at the University of Cambridge
and a fellow of Newnham College
. She is the Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, and author of the blog "A Don's Life", which appears in The Times
as a regular column. Her frequent media appearances and sometimes controversial public statements have led to her being described as "Britain's best-known classicist".
, Shropshire
. Her father, Roy Whitbread Beard, worked as an architect in Shrewsbury
. She recalled him as "a raffish public-schoolboy type and a complete wastrel, but very engaging". Her mother Joyce Emily Beard was a headmistress and an enthusiastic reader. Beard attended Shrewsbury High School
, a private girls school. During the summer she participated in archaeological excavations; this was to earn money for recreational spending.
At the age of 18 she was interviewed for a place at Newnham College
, Cambridge
and sat the then-compulsory entrance exam. She had thought of going to King's
, but rejected it when she discovered the college did not offer scholarships to women. Although studying at a single-sex college, she found in her first year that some men in the University held dismissive attitudes towards women's academic potential, and this strengthened her determination to succeed. She also developed feminist
views that remained "hugely important" in her later life, although she later described "modern orthodox feminism" as partly "cant". Beard received an MA at Newnham and remained in Cambridge for her PhD
.
. She returned to Cambridge in 1984 as a fellow of Newnham College and the only female lecturer in the Classics faculty. Rome in the Late Republic, which she co-wrote with the Cambridge ancient historian Michael Crawford
, was published the same year. In 1985 Beard married Robin Sinclair Cormack. She had a daughter in 1985 and a son in 1987. Beard became Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement in 1992.
Shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks
on the World Trade Center
, Beard was one of several authors invited to contribute articles on the topic to the London Review of Books
. She opined that many people, once "the shock had faded", thought "the United States had it coming", and that "[w]orld bullies, even if their heart is in the right place, will in the end pay the price" (the so-called "Roosting Chickens argument
"). In a November 2007 interview, she stated that the hostility these comments provoked had still not subsided, although she believed it had become a standard viewpoint that terrorism was associated with American foreign policy.
In 2004, Beard became Professor of Classics at Cambridge. She is also the Visiting Sather Professor of Classical Literature for 2008–2009 at the University of California, Berkeley
, where she has delivered a series of lectures on "Roman Laughter".In December 2010, on BBC 2 (UK), Beard presented the graphic historical documentary Pompeii: Life and Death in a Roman Town, submitting remains from the town to forensic tests, aiming to show a snapshot of residents lives prior to the eruption of Vesuvius.
In 2011 she took part in TV series Jamie's Dream School
.
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and a fellow of Newnham College
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
. She is the Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, and author of the blog "A Don's Life", which appears in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
as a regular column. Her frequent media appearances and sometimes controversial public statements have led to her being described as "Britain's best-known classicist".
Youth and education
Beard, an only child,Robert McCrum "Up Pompeii with the roguish don", The Observer, 24 August 2008. was born on 1 January 1955 in Much WenlockMuch Wenlock
Much Wenlock, earlier known as Wenlock, is a small town in central Shropshire, England. It is situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford...
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
. Her father, Roy Whitbread Beard, worked as an architect in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
. She recalled him as "a raffish public-schoolboy type and a complete wastrel, but very engaging". Her mother Joyce Emily Beard was a headmistress and an enthusiastic reader. Beard attended Shrewsbury High School
Shrewsbury High School
Shrewsbury High School is a school for girls in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Founded in 1885, Shrewsbury High is one of the smaller schools in the Girls' Day School Trust, having roughly 750 pupils aged 3 to 18....
, a private girls school. During the summer she participated in archaeological excavations; this was to earn money for recreational spending.
At the age of 18 she was interviewed for a place at Newnham College
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and sat the then-compulsory entrance exam. She had thought of going to King's
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, but rejected it when she discovered the college did not offer scholarships to women. Although studying at a single-sex college, she found in her first year that some men in the University held dismissive attitudes towards women's academic potential, and this strengthened her determination to succeed. She also developed feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
views that remained "hugely important" in her later life, although she later described "modern orthodox feminism" as partly "cant". Beard received an MA at Newnham and remained in Cambridge for her PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
.
Career
From 1979 to 1983 Beard lectured in Classics at King's College LondonKing's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
. She returned to Cambridge in 1984 as a fellow of Newnham College and the only female lecturer in the Classics faculty. Rome in the Late Republic, which she co-wrote with the Cambridge ancient historian Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford (historian)
Michael Hewson Crawford is a British ancient historian and numismatist.-Biography:Michael Crawford was born in Twickenham on 7 December 1939.He was educated at St Paul's School and Oriel College, Oxford , and the British School at Rome....
, was published the same year. In 1985 Beard married Robin Sinclair Cormack. She had a daughter in 1985 and a son in 1987. Beard became Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement in 1992.
Shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
, Beard was one of several authors invited to contribute articles on the topic to the London Review of Books
London Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
. She opined that many people, once "the shock had faded", thought "the United States had it coming", and that "[w]orld bullies, even if their heart is in the right place, will in the end pay the price" (the so-called "Roosting Chickens argument
On the Justice of Roosting Chickens
On the Justice of Roosting Chickens: Reflections on the Consequences of U.S. Imperial Arrogance and Criminality is a 2003 book written by Ward Churchill and published by AK Press. The "Roosting Chickens" of the title comes from a 1963 Malcolm X speech about the John F...
"). In a November 2007 interview, she stated that the hostility these comments provoked had still not subsided, although she believed it had become a standard viewpoint that terrorism was associated with American foreign policy.
In 2004, Beard became Professor of Classics at Cambridge. She is also the Visiting Sather Professor of Classical Literature for 2008–2009 at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, where she has delivered a series of lectures on "Roman Laughter".In December 2010, on BBC 2 (UK), Beard presented the graphic historical documentary Pompeii: Life and Death in a Roman Town, submitting remains from the town to forensic tests, aiming to show a snapshot of residents lives prior to the eruption of Vesuvius.
In 2011 she took part in TV series Jamie's Dream School
Jamie's Dream School
Jamie's Dream School is a seven-part British television documentary series made by Fresh One Productions, first aired on Channel 4. In it, Jamie Oliver enrols a group of teenagers with fewer than five GCSEs into his "Dream School" - a school in which lessons are taught by celebrities who are...
.
Books
- Rome in the Late Republic (with Michael CrawfordMichael Crawford (historian)Michael Hewson Crawford is a British ancient historian and numismatist.-Biography:Michael Crawford was born in Twickenham on 7 December 1939.He was educated at St Paul's School and Oriel College, Oxford , and the British School at Rome....
, 1985, revised 1999); ISBN 0-7156-2928-X - The Good Working Mother's Guide (1989); ISBN 0-7156-2278-1
- Pagan Priests: Religion and Power in the Ancient World (as editor with John North, 1990); ISBN 0-7156-2206-4
- Classics: A Very Short Introduction (with John Henderson, 1995); ISBN 0-19-285313-9
- Religions of Rome (with John North and Simon Price, 1998); ISBN 0-521-30401-6 (vol. 1), ISBN 0-521-45015-2 (vol. 2)
- The Invention of Jane Harrison (Harvard University Press, 2000); ISBN 0-674-00212-1
- Classical Art from Greece to Rome (with John Henderson, 2001); ISBN 0-19-284237-4
- The Parthenon (Harvard University Press, 2002); ISBN 1-86197-292-X
- The Colosseum (with Keith HopkinsKeith HopkinsMorris Keith Hopkins was a British historian and sociologist. He was professor of ancient history at the University of Cambridge from 1985 to 2000....
, Harvard University Press, 2005); ISBN 1-86197-407-8 - The Roman Triumph (Harvard University Press, 2007); ISBN 0-674-02613-6
- Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town (2008); ISBN 1-86197-516-3 (U.S. title: The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found; Harvard University Press)
External links
- Mary Beard's webpage at Newnham College
- Mary Beard's blog at The TLS
- Mary Beard interview podcast from The New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
- Beard article archive from The New York Review of Books
- 'The story of my rape' by Mary Beard, The Guardian, 8 September 2000.
- 'The never ending story' by Mary Beard, The Guardian, 30 April, 2004.
- 'Apart from vomitoriums and orgies, what did the Romans do for us?' by Mary Beard, The Guardian, 29 October 2005.
- 'A radical, short-lived and violent experiment: the origins of democracy' by Mary Beard, The Guardian, 29 April 2006.
- 'Power + Knowledge + Sex = ?' by Mary Beard, The Guardian, 18 August 2006.
- 'Tacitus was no elitist' by Mary Beard, The Guardian, 16 January 2007.
- 'Pomp and circumstance': Review of The Roman Triumph by Greg Woolf, The Guardian, 22 December 2007.
- 'Airing the classics' by Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement, 18 January 2008.
- 'Foreword' by Mary Beard, The Guardian, 18 January 2008.
- 'A very modern emperor' by Mary Beard, The Guardian, 19 July 2008.
- The Sigmund H. Danziger, Jr. Memorial Lecture in the HumanitiesThe Sigmund H. Danziger, Jr. Memorial Lecture in the HumanitiesThe Sigmund H. Danziger, Jr. Memorial Lecture in the Humanities is an annual honorary bestowed upon an “established scholar of classical literature, who has made substantial contributions to the critical analysis of classical literature, or has been exceptionally skilled at inspiring an...