I’m Alex Holbrook, assistant professor in the Department of History and Archaeology. I’m from across Lake Erie, more or less, since I grew up and went to university in southern Ontario. While finishing my undergraduate degree, I discovered I really enjoyed the opportunities I had to lead seminars or teach others about topics of interest to me, especially in the academic setting, so off I went to grad school to get the credentials that would allow me to keep doing that as a career. Also, my father, older sister, twin brother, and husband are all academics, so it’s a family business!
My training is in Classics – but not, as I so often have to tell people, Shakespeare or Mozart or Jane Austen (although they are great too). The field of Classics focuses particularly on the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. My specialty is in Roman social history – family, slavery, and gender in the historiography and literature of Republican and Imperial Rome. I also have interests and experience teaching broader courses in World History with special interest in historical pandemics and the Space Race of the 1950s and 1960s!
After getting my PhD, I was a part-time adjunct at the University of Texas-Pan American in the Rio Grande Valley region of deep-south Texas. In 2014, our family relocated to Western New York, where my spouse now teaches for SUNY-Fredonia. I love being closer to Canada and enjoying the seasons (yes, even winter!). I started adjuncting at Gannon University in 2015, and was so pleased to be hired full-time in 2019. Friendly staff, talented colleagues, and great students make this a fun, stimulating place to work and learn!
I believe in the rejuvenating power of hobbies: for me, these are community theatre, playing piano and fiddle, camping, and indoor climbing.