Janette McWilliam

Dr Janette McWilliam is a Senior Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History and Discipline Convenor in the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, at the University of Queensland. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Masters by Research from the Australian National University, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge. Promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2024, McWilliam has excelled in teaching, research, and service, including roles as Director of the R.D. Milns Antiquities Museum. She has revolutionized classical language teaching at the University of Queensland through innovative pedagogical approaches, particularly the use of colour in teaching Latin and Greek. Her teaching excellence is recognized by the 2014 National Teaching Award in Arts and Humanities from the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching, the 2013 University of Queensland Award for Teaching Excellence, and the 2011 Faculty of Arts Award for Teaching Excellence. McWilliam has secured multiple grants, including UQ New Staff Start-up Grants, Faculty Strategic Grants, and funding for museum projects and teaching innovations.

McWilliam's research interests encompass ancient material culture, Greek and Roman social, cultural, and political history, Roman children and women, Roman art, Roman law, ancient medicine, Latin epigraphy, cultural identities in the ancient world, and museum studies. Current projects focus on Roman children, pedagogical approaches to classical languages, and First World War antiquities collections in Queensland. She has curated numerous exhibitions at the R.D. Milns Antiquities Museum, such as Cyprus: An Island and a People (2015), A Study in Stone (2014), and Wondrous Machines: Hero of Alexandria's Ancient Automata (2022). Key publications include the co-edited volume Cyprus: An Island and a People (2015); book chapters "Children in Roman religion and ritual" (2021) in Children in Antiquity and "The socialization of Roman children" (2013) in The Oxford Handbook of Childhood and Education in the Classical World; and journal articles "Family perpetrated and condoned violence in the education of male Greco-Roman children" (2023) in the Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, "Collecting antiquities in wartime: The First World War Antiquities (Queensland) Project" (2024) in the Journal of the History of Collections, and "Vitalis or Vitalinis? A Roman grave-marker for an eight-year-old girl" (2018) in Antichthon. McWilliam directs international museum internships and field schools in Italy, fostering hands-on engagement with classical antiquities.

Professional Email: j.mcwilliam@uq.edu.au