Shirley Ann Barlow is a

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

specialising in the study of Classical drama and was one of the founding members of the Department of Classics at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

. One of her former students is comedian Alan Davies. She was an Honorary Fellow of

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Career

Barlow completed her PhD thesis on "The Visual Imagery of Euripides" in 1964, as an external student at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. She started at the

in 1965 as a Lecturer in Classics, and one of the founding members of the department of Classics. Prior to this appointment she had worked at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, and was persuaded to return to the UK by the chance to work at a brand new university. She eventually gained promotion to Senior Lecturer and was, subsequently, head of the Classics department there. She was Master of

Eliot College, Kent Eliot College is the oldest college of the University of Kent. It was established in 1965, the same year the university opened. Prior to the start of the 2020-21 academic year, the post of College Master was abolished at Eliot and all the other ...

between 1985 and 1990, and a seminar room in Eliot College is named after her. In this role she was also responsible for commissioning the mural ''A Canterbury Chronicle'' by

Oliver Postgate Richard Oliver Postgate (12 April 1925 – 8 December 2008) was an English Animation, animator, puppeteer, and writer. He was the creator and writer of some of Britain's most popular children's television programmes. ''Bagpuss'', ''Pingwings' ...

, which was hung in the college in 1992. Barlow had proposed the subject of the mural, a "light-hearted depiction of the history of East Kent... and Canterbury." One of her students in 1986 was the comedian

Alan Davies Alan Roger Davies (; ; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only permanen ...

who described Barlow, in his 2009 book ''My favourite people and me: 1978-1988'', as the best teacher he had at Kent whilst describing her as "engaging, and knowledgeable and omeone whoinspired commitment to her subject, classical drama". Barlow was a member of the

Soroptimist International Soroptimist International (SI) , founded in 1921, is a global volunteer service for women with almost 66,000 members in 118 countries worldwide. Soroptimist International also offers Associate Membership and E-Clubs. Soroptimist International h ...

organisation and acted as the president of the Canterbury branch in 1986-1987. She was awarded an Honorary Fellowship to the

in 1988.

Selected publications

*Barlow, S. A. 1971. ''The Imagery of Euripides''. London. *Barlow, S. A. 1981. "Sophocles' Ajax and Euripides' Heracles", ''Ramus'' 10(2), 112-128. *Barlow, S. A. 1982. "Structure and Dramatic Realism in Euripides' Heracles", ''Greece & Rome'' 29(2) 115-125. *Barlow, S. A. 1986. ''Euripides Trojan Women''. Warminster, Aris & Phillips. *Barlow, S. A. 1989. "Stereotype and Reversal in Euripides' Medea", ''Greece & Rome'' 36(2), 158-171. *Barlow, S. A. 1996. ''Euripides: Heracles''. Warminster, Aris & Phillips.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlow, Shirley British women classical scholars Year of birth missing (living people) Living people