My research explores the sociocultural history of late antique Rome and its reception in the nineteenth century. By analysing the interaction between texts and images within their ancient contexts, I employ both computational techniques (such as large-scale data analysis, augmented reality, and 3D modelling) and traditional methods (including archival and historiographical analysis) to develop collaborative projects that advance state-of-the-art research questions in Classics. This research programme has secured over £450,000 in funding and two international research awards, leading to twelve publications and fourteen conference presentations.
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Kelly E. McClinton
Merton College, University of Oxford
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Education
2022–September 2025: Dual doctorate (Part 1) University of Oxford, Merton College, Classical Archaeology*
- Thesis title: Excavating the Sacred: A History of Rediscovering Space in Late Antique Rome
- Funding Details: Virtual World Heritage Lab, Research Fellowship in ‘Social History’
- Research focus: systematic survey, spatial experience, diachronic 3D modelling, ancient housing
- Publications: thesis monograph (BAR); two articles (l'Antiquité Tardive; History & Anthropology)
- Supervisor: Ine Jacobs; Informal Co-Supervisors: Bryan Ward-Perkins, Jas Elsner
2020–2021: Dual doctorate (Part 2) Indiana University, Dept. of Informatics
- summa cum laude
- Thesis title: Computationally Modelling Roman Domestic Space (submitted, IU Press)
- Funding Details: National Science Foundation, National Research Training Programme in AI Methods
- Research focus: developing computational approaches to analyse Roman domestic space
- Publications: thesis manuscript (submitted, IU Press); three scholarly articles
- Supervisors: Bernie Frischer, Luis Rocha, Paolo Liverani
2015–2019: Dual M.A. Indiana University, Dept. of Art History / Dept. of Informatics
- summa cum laude
- MA thesis: Re-thinking space, function, and décor in the House of Marcus Lucretius (IU Press)
- Funding: National Science Foundation, National Research Training Programme in AI Methods
- Research focus: in-depth analysis of a Roman domestic space; 3D models of the site and artefacts
- Publications: thesis manuscript, scholarly article
2006–2010: B.A. University of Texas at Austin, Ancient History and Classical Civilisation
- magna cum laude
- Funding Details: Scholarship for Study in Ancient History and Classical Civilisation
- Undergraduate thesis: Reconstructing the Palace of Minos at Knossos (UT Austin Press)
Publications
(accepted)
- (White Paper) 2023: Designing an Augmented Reality Application (Published by Natural England)
- (Conference Abstract) 2022: Remote fieldwork: The impact of COVID-19 on a study of ancient Roman wall paintings (Computer Applications in Archaeology, Session 21, Oxford)
- (Article) 2019: McClinton, K. E. (July). Applications of Photogrammetric Modelling to Roman Wall Painting: A Case Study in the House of Marcus Lucretius. In Arts (Vol. 8, No. 3, p. 89). MDPI.
- (Conference Paper) 2017: Hunsucker, A. J., McClinton, K., Wang, J., & Stolterman, E. Augmented reality prototyping for interaction design students. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1018-1023).
(under review)
- (Book Review) 2025: Domus Pompeiana M. Lucretii IX 3, 5.24 (Bryn Mawr Classical Review)
- (Article) 2025: POESIS: Rediscovering the ‘Human-in-the-Loop' in AI Research (PLOS ONE)
- (Article) 2024: Augmenting the Aura: Roman Art in Context (Studies in Digital Heritage)
(forthcoming)
- (Database Entries) December 2025: Santi Giovanni e Paolo, San Clemente, and San Pietro in Vaticano (Online: Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity Project Online/Print: Oxford University Press)
Funding and Awards (over £ 450,000 raised to date / *indicates an active grant or application)
- (2025) Early Career Research Award, PEO International (£35,000, nominated, awaiting outcome)*
- Intended deliverable: preliminary fieldwork for the project proposed here
- (2024) Research Grant, School of Archaeology, The University of Oxford (£500)
- Completed deliverable: final fieldwork in Rome; Basilica di San Clemente
- (2023) Research Grant, Virtual World Heritage Lab (£7,500)
- Completed deliverable: a 3D model of the Basilica Santi Giovanni e Paolo
- (2023) Research Grant, The University of Oxford (£500)
- Completed deliverable: fieldwork in Rome for the Basilica Santi Giovanni e Paolo
- (2023) Fields of the Future Fellowship, Bard Graduate Centre (£25,000)
- Completed deliverable: draft of the thesis monograph; declined owing to travel concerns
- (2023) Residence Award, British School at Rome + Research Grant, The University of Oxford (£2,500)
- Completed deliverable: fieldwork in Rome for the Basilica Santi Giovanni e Paolo
- (2022) Conference award, Computer Applications in Archaeology (£500)
- Completed deliverables: attendance at the conference; presentation of a new pilot project
- (2022) Research Grant, Indiana University (£5,000)
- Completed deliverable: fieldwork in Rome; survey of evidence for Roman housing (Part 2)
- (2021) Craven Committee Research Grant (£1,500)
- Completed deliverable: fieldwork in Rome; survey of evidence for Roman housing (Part 1)
- (2021) Research Grant, Rob Kling Fellowship for Social Informatics (£6,000)
- Completed deliverable: ethnography on ‘3D modelling’ and ‘archaeological databases’
- (2021) Doctoral Fellowship, The University of Oxford (£55,000)
- Completed deliverable: submission of the transfer of status
- (2020) Early Career Research Award, Virtual World Heritage Lab (£25,000)
- Completed deliverable: completed development and white paper report for two research projects
- (2019) Residence Award, American Academy in Rome
- Completed deliverable: fieldwork in Pompeii
- (2019) European Research Council Grant (£100,000)
- Award not accepted; grant was explicitly in support of study at Trinity College Dublin.
- (2018) National Science Foundation Doctoral Research & Training Grant (£55,000)
- Completed deliverable: submitted PhD thesis
- (2018) Office of the Vice Provost Research Grant
- Completed deliverable: fieldwork in Pompeii
- (2017) National Science Foundation Doctoral Research & Training Grant (£55,000)
- Completed deliverable: submitted PhD thesis
- (2017) Research Grant, Rob Kling Fellowship for Social Informatics (£2500)
- Completed deliverable: fieldwork in Pompeii and Rome
- (2016) Department of Art History and Department of Informatics, Summer Research Grant (£5,000)
- Completed deliverable: fieldwork and 3D scans in Pompeii, Rome, and Florence
- (2015) Summer Research Grant, Indiana University (£7,500)
- Completed deliverable: fieldwork and 3D scans in Pompeii, Rome, and Florence
Presentations
- Rethinking Social History in Early Christian Rome
- October 2025. Pontifical Institute in Rome. Forthcoming.
- November 2023. Department of Classics, Oxford, UK
- November 2022. Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome, Italy
- Social History in Late Antique Rome: Re-Evaluating Current Narratives (200-600 AD)
- May 2023. Department of History, Oxford, UK
- March 2023. Department of Classics, Oxford, UK
- November 2022. Merton College, Oxford, UK
- June 2021. Oxford University Byzantine Society Conference, Oxford, UK
- A Social History of the Resting Satyr and the Via Cavour: Building and Object Biographies in Augmented Reality
- January 2023. Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA
- May 2018. Digital Humanities for Academic and Curatorial Practice (Rome, 23 - 24 May 18). The American Academy in Rome, Italy.
- March 2018. University of Michigan at Ann Arbour
- February 2018. The Getty Villa in Malibu and the College Art Association Annual Meeting
- April 2017. The Eskenazi Museum, Indiana University
- March 2016. Department of Classics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- December 2015. Department of Informatics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- POESIS and AI
- November 2018. Department of Informatics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- September 2018. National Science Foundation Interdisciplinary Training in Complex Networks and Systems Conference, Washington, D.C.
- April 2018. CASCI, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- DOMUS: The House of Marcus Lucretius in Pompeii
- March 2019. Department of Informatics, Indiana University, Bloomington
- February 2018. Department of Art History, Indiana University, Bloomington
- January 2017. VWHL Lab, Indiana University, Bloomington
- The Uffizi-Indiana University 3D Digitisation Project
- October 2018. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
- May 2018. International Congress of Classical Archaeology, Bonn, Germany
- February 2017. College Art Association, New York, NY.
- Digitising Ancient Sculpture in Museums
- November 2017. The Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- March 2017. Annual Computer Applications in Archaeology Meeting, Atlanta, GA
- January 2017. Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, Toronto, Ontario
- June 2016. Emory University, Atlanta, GA
- February 2016. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- The Antikythera Mechanism: Applications of Complex Systems Modelling in Classical Archaeology
- April 2016. Department of Informatics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- October 2015. Virtual World Heritage Lab, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- An Ethnography of Remote Archival Research & Fieldwork in Rome. Computer Applications in Archaeology Conference, Oxford, UK. May 2022
- Beazley: An Early Digital Humanist? Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, March 2018
- Is There a Digital History? Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, May 2018
- When Opinions Differ: Pedagogical Models of Historical Education in Locke, Rousseau, and Kant, Department of History, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, January 2018
- Absence and Anxiety: A Critical Perspective, December 2017, Department of History, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- Ancient Roman Wall Painting, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, December 2017
- Rethinking Pre-Iconoclastic Icons in Rome, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, October 2017
- Augmented Reality for Design Students, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (presented by Andy Hunsucker), Denver, CO, May 2017
- The Rome Reborn Project. Visualising New Connections in the Ancient City, Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Southern Section, Atlanta, GA, June 2016
- The Evolution of Roman Portraiture, The American Academy in Rome, July 2016
- Exploring the MOOC format as a pedagogical approach for eLearning, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, January 2016
Seminars and Lab Meetings
- Co-organiser, Merton College: Ancient History Faculty Seminar on ‘AI and computational approaches to the study of the ancient world’ (Quo Vadis: Classics & AI; Michaelmas Term 2025)
- Co-organised the Oxford Byzantine Graduate Research Seminar (2024)
- Co-organised the Roman Discussion Research Forum (2023)
- Co-organised the Digital Classics Seminar at the Institute for Classical Studies in London (2022)
- Lead organiser of the Ancient Architecture Research Discussion Group (2022)
- Lead organiser of the Virtual World Heritage Research Lab Meeting (2019-2021)
- Lead organiser of the National Science Foundation NRT Weekly Research Discussion (2018-2019)
Conferences and Workshops
- Organising a one-day conference on AI and Ancient History, Merton College, Hilary Term 2026
- Co-organised a conference panel on current approaches in Digital History, Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (2024)
- Co-organised a conference panel on current approaches in Digital Archaeology, Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (2023)
- Panellist on Late Antique Spaces, Oxford University Byzantine Society Conference (2022)
- Organised a workshop on 3D Scanning with Smartphones, Virtual World Heritage Lab (2022)
- Organised a conference on current digital humanities research at Indiana University, Virtual World Heritage Lab (2021)
- Co-organised a half-day conference on 3D scanning in museums, Eskenazi Museum (2020)
- Co-organised a half-day conference on museum digitisation, Michael C. Carlos Museum (2019)
Seminars and Lab Meetings
- Co-organiser, Merton College: Ancient History Faculty Seminar on ‘AI and computational approaches to the study of the ancient world’ (Quo Vadis: Classics & AI; Michaelmas Term 2025)
- Co-organised the Oxford Byzantine Graduate Research Seminar (2024)
- Co-organised the Roman Discussion Research Forum (2023)
- Co-organised the Digital Classics Seminar at the Institute for Classical Studies in London (2022)
- Lead organiser of the Ancient Architecture Research Discussion Group (2022)
- Lead organiser of the Virtual World Heritage Research Lab Meeting (2019-2021)
- Lead organiser of the National Science Foundation NRT Weekly Research Discussion (2018-2019)
Conferences and Workshops
- Organising a one-day conference on AI and Ancient History, Merton College, Hilary Term 2026
- Co-organised a conference panel on current approaches in Digital Art History, Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (2024)
- Co-organised a conference panel on current approaches in Digital Archaeology, Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (2023)
- Panellist on Late Antique Spaces, Oxford University Byzantine Society Conference (2022)
- Organised a workshop on 3D Scanning with Smartphones, Virtual World Heritage Lab (2022)
- Organised a conference on current digital humanities research at Indiana University, Virtual World Heritage Lab (2021)
- Co-organised a half-day conference on 3D scanning in museums, Eskenazi Museum (2020)
- Co-organised a half-day conference on museum digitisation, Michael C. Carlos Museum (2019)
Software Research and Technical Development
- Software research skills: design, technical implementation, user testing, publication
- Key development experiences: lead designer for two digital exhibits; PI for two large-scale research projects revolving around web-based artificial intelligence
- Primary coding languages: C#, C++, Python, SQL, HTML 5, CSS
Spoken and Written Languages
- Ancient: Latin (Proficient); Greek (Competent)
- Modern: Italian (competent in speaking, writing, and reading, with approximately 2 years in residence); French (competent in reading); German (competent in reading)
Collegial Service (2022-Present)
- Co-organised the writing group for the ‘History Society’ at Merton College (2025-Present)
- Assisted with planning a seminar event for the ‘History of the Book’ group (Trinity Term, 2025)
- Assisted with interviewing for the Classical Archaeology and Ancient History (CAAH) (2022-Present)
- Served as ‘Charities Officer’ (2022-2023), ‘ Chapel Officer’ (2022-Present), and ‘Coffee Officer’ for the MCR (Trinity Term, 2022-Present)
- Led College and Library tours during ‘Open Days’ and ‘Outreach Events’ (2023-Present)
- Assisted with subject leadership through graduate mentoring and peer counselling (2022-Present)
- Helped with weekly chapel events, including creating term booklets (2022-2023)
Additional Experience: Software Application Project Manager (Charity Dynamics) and Public Engagement Manager (Arch Aerial LLC) in Austin, TX (5 years across two companies)
Archaeological Fieldwork: Italy, Spain, Greece, and the United States
Teaching Experience
- The Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford, 2022-Present
- The Department of Informatics, University of Indiana, 2015-2021
Papers Taught
- Tutor, Art Under the Roman Empire, Trinity College, 2025, 2 students
- Course Instructor, Roman Texts & Contexts, Trinity College, 2024, 6 students
- Lecturer, Introduction to Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, 2025, 10 students
- Lecturer, Various Courses, IT Teaching and Learning Centre, 2025, 10-20 students per class
- Tutor, Roman History 5 & Roman History 6, Merton College, 2023, 1 student
- Tutor, Roman Architecture; Cities and Settlements, Merton College, 2023, 1 student
- Tutor, Archaeology of the Late Roman Empire, University College, 2023, 2 students
- Tutor, Art Under the Roman Empire, St Benet’s Hall, 2022, 2 students
- Teaching Assistant, Republic to Empire: Rome, 50 BC to AD 50, 2022, 10 students
- Lecturer, Archaeology in Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia, 2021, 10 students
- Research Supervision, Designing a Museum Exhibit in Augmented Reality, 2018-2019, 15 students
- Teaching Assistant, Computational Methods in Ancient History, 2015-2017, 15 students
Research-Led Teaching Philosophy
In preparing lessons, I define specific learning goals for each session, while also emphasising the development of students’ general knowledge, critical thinking, verbal argumentation, and writing skills in Ancient History. In tutorials, I aim to facilitate discussions on primary sources and the analysis of ancient texts. These are complemented by critical visual analysis and ekphrasis of archaeological and artistic works. Learning goals combined pictures and text to build ‘historical sense’, adding secondary sources when needed, identifying gaps in the reading list, taking note of student experience, and adjusting accordingly.
Relevant Certifications
- Advanced Teaching and Learning Programme / Oxford Centre for Teaching and Learning (2023)
- Peer Support Training Programme / Oxford University Centre for Welfare and Student Support (2022)
Lead Course Instructor & Curriculum Designer, Indiana University at Bloomington (2019 - 2021)
- Augmented Reality Exhibit Design
- Designed the syllabus and course
- Adapted the course curriculum to a hybrid format following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Supervise student research for end-of-term projects
- Digital Methods in Art History
- Roman Topography
- Roman Housing in Pompeii and Ostia
Assistant Instructor, Indiana University at Bloomington (2015-2018)
- Introduction to 3D Modelling
- Design & Development in Unity 3D
- Introduction to Virtual Heritage
- Introduction to Social Informatics
- Lead lab demonstrations and discussion sections twice a week
- Hold weekly office hours, assisting students as needed with software, writing, and research
- Respond via email to student concerns about assignments and grades, routing to the senior lecturer or other departmental staff members when appropriate
Professional Societies, Institutional Affiliations, and Collegial Service
- Archaeological Institute of America: Co-President of the Special Interest Group for Digital Methods in Spatial Analysis
- Computer Applications in Archaeology: Organising Member and Reviewer for the Special Interest Group in Spatial Analysis
- Royal Anthropological Society: Fellow
- Royal Historical Society: Fellow
- Visiting Fellow at the ‘Centre for Digital Humanities’ at the University of Cambridge and Sidney Sussex College (to be undertaken in the Summer 2026)
- Studies in Digital Heritage Journal, Indiana University: Editor and Reviewer
- British School at Rome, American Academy in Rome
Academic Associations (2020-Present)
- Visiting Fellow at the ‘Centre for Digital Humanities’ at the University of Cambridge and Sidney Sussex College (to be undertaken in the Summer 2026)
- Royal Historical Society Fellow (2025)
- Royal Anthropological Institute Fellow (2024)
- Archaeological Institute of America Member, Special Interest Group Leader (2022-Present)
- European Archaeological Association Member (2022-Present)
- Computer Applications in Archaeology, Special Interest Group Leader (2022-Present)
- Max Planck Institute for Art History in Rome (2023-Present)
- British School in Rome (2022-Present)
- American Academy in Rome (2021-Present)
- Studies in Digital Heritage, Guest Editor (2020-Present)
Academic References
- Professor Bryan Ward-Perkins
- Professor Jas Elsner
- Professor Paolo Liverani
- Professor Jonathan Prag
- Dr Ine Jacobs
- Professor Bernard Frischer
- Professor Luis Rocha