Dr M.J. Groen-Vallinga (Miriam)

Miriam Groen-Vallinga is researcher, teacher and teacher ambassador to the department of History, Art History and Antiquity.

Her research is characterized by an interest in those groups of people who were less visible in the society of the early Roman empire, such as labourers, women and children. To shed light on their position in society she makes use of the ample (funerary) inscriptions that have survived from Roman Italy, as well as material culture, legal and literary texts, but also documentary texts on papyri may add new insights. Because these groups nevertheless remain underrepresented in the ancient evidence, her research applies theories and methods from other fields of research to be able to sketch out a broader picture, such as sociological theories of the family, or new institutional economics.

Her PhD-thesis on work and labour in the cities of Roman Italy was published with Liverpool University Press. More recently she has been working on the population of columbarium tombs from the city of Rome and its immediate surroundings. A new project on the impact of slavery on enslaved persons and freedpeople in Roman society is next on the agenda.

Education should inspire students to engage with ancient history. Students are multi-talented, which is why Miriam strives to create space for alternative forms of testing and presenting in her teaching, which has led to, e.g., a student blog and library exhibition. As teacher ambassador her door is always open to colleagues and students who have ideas on the development of education at Radboud University.