Dr Carol Atack

BSc (London), MA (Cantab), MPhil (Cantab), PhD (Cantab)

Fellow (D), Director of Studies, Assistant Tutor, Postgraduate Mentor

College Roles

  • Fellow (D)
  • Director of Studies in Classics (Parts IB & II)
  • Assistant Tutor (Undergraduates)
  • Praelector
  • Postgraduate Mentor

Contact

Email: cwa24@cam.ac.uk

Biography

Dr Carol Atack works on classical Greek political thought and intellectual history.

Dr Carol Atack is a Fellow D and associate tutor at Newnham College, University of Cambridge. During Spring 2020 she held a fellowship at the Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington DC/Harvard.

She holds a PhD in Classics from the University of Cambridge (2014), and undergraduate degrees in Classics (Cambridge) and Government (London School of Economics). Carol has held teaching positions in ancient history and classical literature at the University of Warwick and St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford.

Research Interests

Dr Carol Atack has published several articles and book chapters on topics in Greek political thought, including Plato’s model of history in the Laws, political thought in the pseudo-Platonic letters, Aristotle’s thought on kingship, and Foucault on Plato on frank speech. Her PhD research on monarchy in Greek political thought has been published as The Discourse of Kingship in Classical Greece (Routledge, 2019). Her notes and introduction along with Martin Hammond’s new translation of Xenophon’s Memorabilia and Apology were published as Memories of Socrates (Oxford World’s Classics, 2023).

Carol’s current research continues her work on fourth-century Greek political thought, with a particular focus on the political and ethical thought of Plato and Xenophon. She is preparing a monograph on the temporality of Platonic dialogue, expanding on her 2020 article ‘Plato’s Queer Time: dialogic moments in the life and death of Socrates’ (Classical Reception Journal, 12, 10-31).

Carol is also working on a short book on Xenophon for the series Greece and Rome New Surveys in the Classics, and an account of Plato’s life. She serves as associate editor for Greek political thought for the journal Polis.