John Bloxham successfully completes his PhD in Classics

John Bloxham

The Department of Classics congratulates John Bloxham for successfully completing his PhD in Classics. John will receive his award at the next graduation ceremony.

John describes his thesis with pride and enthusiasm.
"My thesis was titled ‘The Reception of Greek Thought in American Conservatism since 1945’. It explored how modern concerns and debates, and their place within a changing social context, have affected interpretations of Greek texts, and how these new interpretations have reinforced and invigorated conservative thought. Chapter One looked at appropriations of Greek thought after World War II, against the backdrop of the early Cold War. Despite the relative neglect of the thinkers of this period in recent decades, many of their ideas and themes, influenced by their engagement with the ideas of ancient Greece, continue to reverberate within today’s conservative movement. By Chapter Five, the focus had shifted to the 1990s and 2000s, when ancient theorising was used to re-evaluate America's foreign policy stance in the post-Cold War world. Exploring a range of issues and periods, I used tools from reception theory and intellectual history to assess the decisions made by modern appropriators - what they used, adapted or omitted – against on-going shifts in the social and political context."