Staff profile
Katharine Russell
BA, MA, PGCE
Biography
My research is inspired by my work as a teacher and by the five years I spent as Head of Classics at a multi-academy trust in the East of England. During this time, my efforts to expand the department’s provision were recognised with a Classics for All National Teaching Award in 2022.
Before teaching, I completed a BA in Classics at King’s College, Cambridge, followed by an MA in Christianity and the Arts at King’s College London. I remained at KCL for my PGCE in Classics, Latin and Greek, where I was awarded the Blackwell Prize for the Most Promising Teacher of Latin and Classics.
With two small children, most of my thinking now happens in the yoga studio.
PhD Project
My research investigates how the recent publishing trend for myth-based fiction is impacting students’ imaginations, changing both who is accessing Classics and how they think about it. I have conducted surveys and interviews with dozens of teachers, school students, university students and authors across England to see how this pop culture phenomenon is changing the classical landscape.
Research Interests
Classical reception, Classics education and pedagogy, mythology, teen reading, contemporary fiction
Publications
Forthcoming: Russell, K. (2026). 'The Song of Achilles? Goddamn, yes.' Reader Responses as a Starting Point for Teaching Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles (2011). In Savage, J. (Ed) Teaching Young Adult Literature, (Palgrave Macmillan)