I am interested in how videogames, virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence systems allow for and pose new forms of humanistic inquiry. My approach is informed by the systematic inquiry of the humanities derived from my background in Classics and Ancient History.

My research has explored technologically mediated inquiry in a variety of ways, from publications on how historical video games construct their worlds (Mashing Up History and Heritage in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey), to those that look at the relationship between games and gender (Kassandra's Odyssey) and how paratexts frame the experience of play (Unboxing Age of Empires: Paratexts and the Experience of Historical Strategy Games).

My recent work continues to examine the theme of inquiry. In The AI question, or what if Homer had ChatGPT?, I look at how questions regarding the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey provide us with the tools to critically engage with rapid developments in generative AI today. Immersivity in 'Virtual Antiquity' considers what it means to be immersed in virtual representations of the past, while ‘As you write your Odyssey…’: An empirical study of Classics students’ play interests and ergodic characterization in historical video games, co-authored with Dr Alexander Vandewalle, explores how audiences respond to virtual representations of the past.

I have also published on historical fiction more broadly, the topic of my PhD (University of Bristol, 2019), looking at how the genre inserts the ambiguities of art into historical representations (Breaking the Frame in Historical Fiction). 

I have two special issues in development, the first for Rethinking History on Virtual Realities as Time Travel and the second for the Classical Receptions Journal on New Directions in Classics, Gaming, and Extended Reality. Current projects include Game Conscious™ Characters - a MyWorld Collaborative Research and Development project with industry lead Meaning Machine that involves R&D in generative AI systems for in-game characters.

From 2020-2023, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher on the multidisciplinary, AHRC-funded project The Virtual Reality Oracle (VRO): An Immersive Experience of the Ancient Greek Oracle at Dodona, which created a ground-breaking VR experience of ancient divination that aims to improve educational outcomes in schools. Following this project, I held the role of Lecturer in Digital Classics at the University of Bristol until August 2025 when I took up the position of Lecturer in Digital Futures at the Bristol Digital Futures Institute. 

My research has also been instrumental in establishing the Bristol Digital Game Lab (2022), which I currently co-Direct with Dr Michael Samuel (Film/TV). The Lab is a leader in the study and development of games for public good. Sited at the intersection of academia and the games industry and housed in the Bristol Digital Futures Institute, the Lab acts as a catalyst for thinking about and with games in the creative city of Bristol, exploring complex societal challenges and shared cultural heritage. Drawing on research from a radically diverse range of disciplines, the Lab investigates and interrogates the nature and impact of games. Our pioneering work encompasses game creation and research, conceptual game jams, knowledge exchange, and more. In 2025/26 I will be developing the Lab's consultancy model as part of a University Enterprise Fellowship.

In 2025, I co-designed with Dr Michael Samuel the MA Games Design (Narrative), the first Masters programme in the world to focus exclusively on narrative design for videogames from a combined arts and technical perspective. The programme will be underpinned by the ongoing research in the Game Lab and our mission to create games for public service. I will be programme co-Director with Dr Michael Samuel for the first intake in 2026/27.

I was nominated for the Inspiring and Innovative Teaching Award in 2023/24 and 2024/25 for my teaching on Exploring the Roman Cityscape (CLAS20070) and Roman Imperial Culture (CLAS20062), and for the Outstanding Dissertation Support Award in 2024/25.

At postgradaute level, I am co-supervising ten projects currently. This includes dissertations on representations of the Bronze Age in video games and the role of open worlds as a means to explore the past, as well as theses on the philosophy of history in the SoulsBorne games, game design and Greek myth, the reception of Carthage in historical strategy games, Classics in non-Classical games, developing heritage content for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and building affective AI games for the Classics ancient history classroom. I am also on the dissertation committe of a Harvard thesis on Multiplayer Classicisms and a supervisor of a visiting PhD developing a framework for historical VR games.