Mr Charles Watson
junior dean
Mr Charles (Ben) Watson, AB (Harvard), M.St. (Oxon.)
Research
Mr Watson came to Oriel in 2007 to teach Greek and Latin language and literature. A native of the United States, he studied Greek and Latin at Harvard and Oxford before coming to Oriel--with a brief hiatus before his doctoral studies to work in technology transfer and intellectual property. His primary research interests lie in oratory, rhetoric, historiography, satire, Latin prose and Roman law--many of which spring from a long-standing affinity for Rome's master of persuasive speech, Cicero. He is currently finishing his doctorate on Cicero's Divinatio in Q. Caecilium. He has written for the Classical Review.
Undergraduate Teaching
He offers language instruction, Latin literature tutorials, and reading and discussion classes on set texts from a wide range of authors from Aristophanes and Thucydides to Petronius and Vergil. Mr Watson has also recently taught tutorials on Cicero the Orator. He has also been an advanced Greek language instructor for the Classics Faculty.
Oriel Classics Reading Group
For classicists and non-classicists alike, he convenes the weekly Oriel Classics Reading Group. All students and staff (from any discipline) are welcome to come and read a classical text in the original language.