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.
Sean’s research focuses predominately on Roman intellectual culture, Roman philosophy, and Roman political thought and history. 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 Cicero in the light of Roman socio-political circumstances and their own indigenous traditions and knowledge systems. His core research covers all areas of Cicero’s philosophical thought and literary oeuvre, including notably his correspondence, but he is currently focused on the dialogues De senectute and De amicitia.
Sean has also worked on a variety of topics in Epicurean social and political thought, including parental love, kingship, civil strife, education, and virtues of greatness. He is currently exploring the place of pity in Epicurean thinking about justice and gender.
His other interests include Plato and the Platonic tradition, ancient biography, ancient epistolography, philosophical translation, and the development of Latin philosophical vocabulary.
Teaching
2025
- CLAS 238 Fantasies, Phobias and Families in Graeco-Roman Myth
- GREK 112 Introductory Greek 2
- GREK 212 Intermediate Greek Authors
- GREK 328 Advanced Greek Authors 1
- GREK 464 A Topic in Greek Literature
- LATN 211 Intermediate Latin
Has also taught
- CLAS 340 Love, Death and the Good Life: Socrates and Plato
- CLAS 345 Tales of Troy: from Homer to Hollywood
- CLAS 440 Advanced Studies in Socrates and Plato
- GREK 111 Introductory Greek 1
- LATN 212 Intermediate Latin Authors
- LATN 329 Advanced Latin Authors 2
- LATN 464 A Topic in Latin Literature
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
McConnell, S. (2025). Friends and obligations: Cicero's De Amicitia and a problem in Roman political culture. In A. Hahmann & M. Vazquez (Eds.), Cicero as philosopher: New perspectives on his philosophy and its legacy. (pp. 223-244). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783111591520-011 Chapter in 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