Welcoming Our New Post-Doctoral Researcher: Dr Thea Lawrence

We are delighted to announce that Dr Thea Lawrence has joined the GROUPMINDS research team as our newest post-doctoral researcher.
A cultural historian and specialist in Latin literature, Thea brings exceptional expertise in the history of the senses, gender, and the ancient body, with a research profile that bridges literary, medical, social, and material-cultural approaches to the Roman world.

Thea completed her PhD at the University of Nottingham with a groundbreaking thesis on odour, perfume, and the female body in Ancient Rome. Her work rethinks Roman perceptions of femininity and embodiment through a multisensory lens, illuminating ancient structures of patriarchy and their enduring impact. She has taught at the Universities of Nottingham and Lincoln, contributed extensively to public engagement, and is currently preparing her monograph for publication.

At GROUPMINDS, Thea will lead the project “Female Group Minds and Socio-Political Agency in Roman Narrative,” examining how Latin authors conceptualised women as collective cognitive agents capable of shaping public life, politics, emotion, and social change. Her research will explore influential female collectives—from the Sabine Women and the protestors against the Lex Oppia in Livy to broader representations of women in historiography, satire, and cultural discourse—to shed new light on ancient models of shared thought and collective identity.

We warmly welcome Thea to the team and look forward to the insights her work will contribute to our understanding of ancient group cognition.

Learn more about Thea’s background, publications, and research project here.