Return to the homepage
  • Library
  • UC Online
  • News
  • Events
  • Maps
  • Staff
  • Work at UC
  • 150 Years
  • Study
    • Study
      • Courses and qualifications
      • Subjects
      • Online learning
      • Arts
      • Business
      • Digital Screen
      • Education
      • Engineering
      • Health
      • Law
      • Science
      • All departments
      • Scholarships
      • Examinations
      • Graduation
      • Graduate School
      • Key dates
      • Publications
      • Study abroad and exchanges
      • Work-Integrated Learning
      • Academic support
      • Special consideration
      • Summer School
      • Transition Programmes
      • Quick Links
      • LEARN
      • Logins
      • Timetables
      • Library
      • Scholarships
      • Transcripts
      • Grading
  • Enrol
    • Enrol at UC
      • Enrolment process
      • Enrolment and Course Dates
      • Admission and University Entrance
      • Identity and citizenship verification
      • International student enrolment
      • PhD and doctoral degree applications
      • Manage your study
      • Fees and funding
      • Student Agreement
      • Change your enrolment
      • Update your contact details
      • Contact Student Services
      • Quick Links
      • Enrol now with myUC
      • Re-enrol now with myUC
      • Qualifications and courses
      • Scholarships
      • Academic Support
      • Transcripts
  • Research
    • Research
      • Become a research student
      • Find a supervisor
      • Support for Researchers
      • Māori Research Partnerships
      • Research Impact
      • Research Institutes and Centres
      • Research specialties
      • Facilities and equipment
      • IP Commercialisation
      • Innovation Jumpstart
      • Ethics Approval
      • UC Research Awards
      • Contact us
      • Quick Links
      • Find an expert
      • Find a supervisor
      • Jobs at UC
      • Ethics Approval
      • Postgraduate forms
      • Library (research)
  • Life
    • Life
      • The campus
      • Facilities
      • Getting around
      • Student life
      • Accommodation
      • Support services
      • Know The Code
      • Sustainability Office
      • UC Students' Association (UCSA)
      • CCR
      • Golden Key
      • Health, safety and wellbeing
      • Life in CHCH
      • Life in NZ
      • Get active
      • Canterbury Card
      • Quick Links
      • UCGo
      • Maps
      • Parking
      • Health Centre
      • UC RecCentre
      • Student events
      • Clubs and societies
  • Support services
    • Support services
      • Finding support
      • Need to talk?
      • Health Services
      • Academic support
      • Assistive technology
      • Accessibility
      • Financial assistance
      • Academic grievances
      • Equity and diversity
      • Parents and whānau
      • Job and careers advice
      • New student support
      • Current student support
      • Postgraduate student support
      • High school student support
      • Adult student support
      • International student support
      • LGBTQI student support
      • Māori student support
      • Pasifika student support
      • Onsite services
      • Quick Links
      • In an emergency
      • Security
      • Raise a concern
      • IT Services
      • Academic Skills Centre
      • Library (support)
      • Contacts
      • Wellbeing Hub
  • Engage
    • Engage
      • Alumni
      • Business and industry
      • Canterbury University Press
      • Communications and Engagement
      • Community partnerships
      • External exam invigilation
      • Find an expert or consultant
      • Giving to UC
      • International partnerships
      • Knowledge Commons
      • News
      • School resources
      • Work at UC
      • Work placements
      • Quick Links
      • Donate to UC
      • Contact UC
      • Current vacancies
      • Erskine Fellowship
      • News
      • Public events
      • Liaison Office
  • About
    • About
      • What is special about UC
      • UC7
      • Ako - Learning & Teaching
      • Governance
      • Leadership
      • Health and Safety
      • Sustainability Hub
      • People and Culture
      • Asset Planning and Delivery
      • History
      • Information and Records Management
      • Ngā Uara | Our Values
      • Contacts
  • Logins
    • Logins
      • LEARN
      • Zoom
      • Student email
      • Staff email
      • myUC
      • My Timetable
      • Canterbury Card Account
      • My Library Account
      • OneDrive
      • UC CareerHub
      • UC Services Portal
      • Password Reset
      • UCGO
      • ourUC
      • Staff logins
      • More logins
Skip to main content
uc-research-profile

Use the Tab and Up, Down arrow keys to select menu items.

  • UC Research Profile
  • Search
  • Browse
    • Subject areas and disciplines
    • Colleges and departments
  • Administration
    • Email UC Research Profile Administrator
    • Update your UC Research Profile page in Profiler (Staff Only)
  • Quick Links
    • Research at UC

Associate Professor Alison Griffith

Contact

Department: Classics

Email: alison.griffith@canterbury.ac.nz

Direct Dial: +64 3 3694980

Office: 103C UC Arts City Location – 3 Hereford Street.

Languages: English, French, German, Italian

We learn by following our own curiosity, when we teach and research we share our knowledge with others.
About
Research / Creative works
Networks
Projects
Methods & Equipment

Fields of Research

  • Classical archaeology
  • Egyptian Art and Archaeology
  • Roman art and architecture
  • Roman religion and cults
  • The archaeology of early Rome and Italy
  • Topography of ancient Rome
  • Cognitive science of religion

Researcher Summary

Dr. Griffith's research has three foci. Her current book project "The Mysteries of Mithras in Imperial Rome" combines her expertise in Roman religion and cults with her extensive knowledge of the topography of ancient Rome. In this book she adopts a holistic approach, which combines data from a wide range of material and literary evidence (ancient texts, inscriptions, art, architectural remains, coins and the like).  She is also working on a book-length study of family violence in Roman myths, focussing primarily on Livy’s "Ab Urbe Condita" and Valerius Maximus’ "Facta et Dicta Memorabilia", on which she has given several conference presentations. Finally, after a quake-induced hiatus, she is also now completing a project to catalogue and publish the ancient coin collection in the Canterbury Museum.

Subject Area: Disciplines

  • Anthropology and Archaeology: Archaeology
  • History, History of Art, Classics and Curatorial Studies: Classical Art; Classics; History of Art
  • Religious Studies and Theology: Religious Studies

Resources

  • Staff webpage

Research/Scholarly/Creative Works

(Displaying research/scholarly/creative work from 2012 to 2020)
Journal Articles
  • Griffith AB. (2014) Dead Religion, Live Minds: Memory and Recall of the Mithraic Bull-Slaying Scene. Journal of Cognitive Historiography 1(1): 72-89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/jch.v1i1.72.
  • Campbell ML. and Griffith AB. (2013) Greek and Roman Oil Lamps in Canterbury Museum: Casting a Light on Ancient Life. Records of the Canterbury Museum 27: 19-45.
Chapters
  • Griffith AB. (2017) Everyday interactions between humans and gods. In Morrison GL; Minchin-Garvin PMA; Elder TVA (Ed.), We could be heroes: The gods and heroes of the ancient Greeks and Romans: 25-30. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press.
  • Griffith A. (2015) Alternative medicine in pre-roman and republican italy: Sacred springs, curative baths and ‘votive religion’. Infirmity in Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Social and Cultural Approaches to Health, Weakness and Care: 185-200.
  • Griffith AB. (2015) Alternative Medicine in Pre-Roman and Republican Italy: Sacred Springs, Curative Baths and 'Votive Religion'. In Krotzl C; Mustakallio K; Kuuliala J (Ed.), Infirmity in Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Social and Cultural Approaches to Health, Weakness and Care: 185-200. Farnham: Ashgate.
  • Griffith AB. (2013) Reconstructing Religious Ritual in Italy. In DeRose Evans J (Ed.), A Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Republican Period: 235-250. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Other
  • Griffith AB. (2016) Egyptian Funerary Mask. In Fifty Treasures: Classical Antiquities in Australian and New Zealand Universities Melbourne: Australasian Society for Classical Studies. [print].
  • Griffith AB. (2013) P. Lulof, C. Rescigno (edd.) Deliciae Fictiles IV. Architectural Terracottas in Ancient Italy. Images of Gods, Monsters and Heroes. The Classical Review 63(1): 243-245. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0009840X12003228. [Book Review].
  • Griffith AB. (2012) In the Museum: Report from the Logie Recovery Group, University of Canterbury. Scholia 20: 198-200.
Conference Contributions - Other
  • Griffith A. (2020) Obeisance to Nero (not Mithras): Tiridates' Visit to Rome Revisited. Dunedin: Australasian Society for Classical Studies 41, 28-31 Jan 2020.
  • Griffith AB. (2017) Representing Roman Myth in the First Century BCE. Wellington, New Zealand: Annual Meeting of the Australasian Society for Classical Studies, 31 Jan-3 Feb 2017.
  • Griffith AB. (2012) Healing, bathing and religious devotion in republican Italy. University of Tampere, Finland: Passages From Antiquity to the Middle Ages V, 23-26 Aug 2012.
Additional Publications
  • Elder T., Griffith AB. and Parker V. (2014) "From Hieroglyphs to Text Message: A Short History of Writing", University of Canterbury Platforms Arts Festival. Engineering and Physical Sciences Library. 11-21 Sep 2014. [Exhibition].

Editorial Work

Displaying all items.
  • Electronic Journal of Mithraic Studies (EJMS) Editor ( 0 - 2023)

Review and Refereeing

Displaying all items.
  • Latomus ( 2014 )
  • Wiley-Blackwell publishers. ( 2009 )

Affiliations

  • Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) (Professional Organisation): Member
  • Association of Women in Ancient World Studies (Professional Organisation): Member, Australasia
  • Australasian Society for Classical Studies (ASCS) (Professional Organisation): Member
  • Higher Education Academy (Teaching/Research Organisation): Senior Fellow
  • New Zealand Association of Classical Teachers (NZACT) (Professional Organisation): Member

Future Research

  • Family Violence in Roman Myths
  • Ancient Coins in the Canterbury Museum
  • Cognitive Studies and Roman Religion
  • Dining in religious contexts

Key Methodologies

  • Ancient Greek
  • Latin
  • Integration of archaeological data with other evidence for the ancient world
  • Use of cognitive theory to understand Roman religion
UC Library
Research & Innovation
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140
New Zealand
Research & Innovation Admin
Phone +64 3 369 5858
admin@research.canterbury.ac.nz
Research Profile Administrator
pbrfprofileradmin@canterbury.ac.nz
Back to top
  • GENERAL ENQUIRIES
  • +64 3 369 3999
  • info@canterbury.ac.nz
  • ENROLMENT ENQUIRIES
  • 0800 VARSITY (0800 827 748)
  • enrol@canterbury.ac.nz
  • INTERNATIONAL ENQUIRIES
  • +64 3 364 3443
  • (Aus) 1-800-431595
  • Ask a question
  • CONTACTS & DIRECTORIES
  • University contacts
  • Student contacts
  • Students' Association
  • Find a researcher (Research Profile)
  • Accommodation
  • Maps
  • Donate online
  • UC on Facebook
  • UC on Twitter
  • UC on youTube
  • UC on Instagram
  • UC on Snapchat
  • UC on LinkedIn
  • UC on WeChat
  • DEPARTMENTS
  • All departments
  • Arts
  • Business
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • Health
  • Law
  • Science
  • Service areas
  • LATEST
  • News
  • Events
  • Publications
  • Work at UC
  • Info for media
  • Style Guide
  • TOOLS
  • LEARN
  • UC Policy Library
  • Library
  • myUC
  • IT account
  • Student email
  • OneDrive
  • Timetable
  • Staff email
  • Intranet (Staff)
  • Copyright Feedback Privacy Cookies Declaration Payment Data
  • Emergency Information
  • © University of Canterbury - A Fair Trade University