Dr. Julia Horn

Biography

Julia Horn’s primary research interest is Greco-Roman medicine and public health. Her particular interests concern quality of life in the ancient world, medical ethics, contagion, and disability. Julia is currently writing a book on the cultural history of tuberculosis, examining how the disease affected society on both personal and collective levels. She completed her BA and MA at Victoria University of Wellington in her homeland New Zealand and obtained her PhD in Classics from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to being a traditionally trained Classicist, Julia has been trained in bioarcheology and paleopathology, with a focus on human skeletons in Italy and Romania. She has been a permanent Kolb Fellow at the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, where she utilizes bioarcheological evidence to provide insights into the physical realities of illness and the patient experience, which are often mediated by others’ writings and visual representations. Julia is driven to incorporate contributions from modern scientific methods into the exploration of the history of science and health.

Research Interests