Honours Co-ordinator
Postgraduate Co-ordinator
Contact
Office 5N4, Arts Building
Email sean.mcconnell@otago.ac.nz
Academic qualifications
- 2010: PhD, University of Cambridge
- 2007: MPhil, University of Cambridge
- 2005: BA(Hons), University of Otago
Background and research interests
Sean completed first his MPhil and then his PhD at the University of Cambridge.
His current research focuses on ancient philosophy, in particular Graeco-Roman philosophy in the first century BC and the interface of philosophy and politics at Rome during the decline and fall of the Roman republic. A major interest is how ethical and political theory, appropriated from the Greek philosophical tradition, is put into practice and developed by figures such as Lucretius, Cato, Varro, and Cicero in the light of Roman cultural and socio-political circumstances.
Teaching
2024
- CLAS 238 Fantasies, Phobias and Families in Graeco-Roman Myth
- CLAS 340 Love, Death and the Good Life: Socrates and Plato
- CLAS 440 Advanced Studies in Socrates and Plato
- LATN 212 Intermediate Latin Authors
- LATN 329 Advanced Latin Authors 2
- LATN 464 A Topic in Latin Literature
Has also taught
- CLAS 345 Tales of Troy: from Homer to Hollywood
- GREK 111 Introductory Greek 1
- GREK 212 Intermediate Greek Authors
- GREK 328 Advanced Greek Authors 1
Areas of research supervision
- Cicero
- Classical philosophy
- Lucretius
- Plato
Publications
McConnell, S. (2014). Philosophical life in Cicero's letters. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 260p. Authored Book - Research
Gilbert, N., Graver, M., & McConnell, S. (Eds.). (2023). Power and persuasion in Cicero's philosophy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 268p. doi: 10.1017/9781009170352 Edited Book - Research
McConnell, S. (2023). Cicero and the Cynics. In R. Woolf (Ed.), Cicero's De Officiis: A critical guide. (pp. 182-200). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781009049375 Chapter in Book - Research
McConnell, S. (2023). The model of voting in Cicero's best state. Polis, 40, 304-328. doi: 10.1163/20512996-12340410 Journal - Research Article
McConnell, S. (2023). The problem of Aristippus at Cicero, De officiis 1.148. Mnemosyne, 76, 121-135. doi: 10.1163/1568525X-bja10086 Journal - Research Article