Happy Wednesday, Watson readers! We're back with a new Prof interview. This week, enjoy reading about Professor Greenfield. And as always, thank you for reading and a big thank you to Professor Greenfield!
1. What is your favourite part about being a professor?
Sharing my interest in Byzantine history with students. Being able to communicate and discuss things that have occupied much of my life for the past forty years is both a pleasure and a privilege. Even better when a little bit of that interest rubs off on others and when my own ideas are stimulated and changed by the interaction with sharp young minds.
2. If you could give your students one piece of advice, what would it be?
Check your sources! In this age, when truth has become increasingly negotiable, when politicians and business leaders actually take pride in their ability to lie convincingly, and social media can so easily be used to manipulate the ideas of so many people, this basic academic skill has become something that we need to employ not just in our scholarship but on an everyday basis.
3. Who is a person in history that you would most like to meet, and why?
Well Jesus and Muhammad because so many terrible things have been done and continue to be done in their names that it would be nice to check at the source whether that was really what they intended. But, more personally, Lazaros of Mount Galesion, an 11th century holy man who lived near Ephesus: I spent a decade of my life working on his life in one way or another and it would be really interesting to know what he was really like.
4. What is your favourite or least favourite historical fiction movie/tv show?
The Last Legion (2007) is a truly terrible movie about the end of the Roman empire. What were Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley thinking (other than about the money)! I guess Kingdom of Heaven (2005) is my favourite; I’ve seen it so many times in connection with my Crusade classes that I know some of it by heart – it certainly has its issues, but does a good job at imagining and conveying atmosphere.
5. Astrology was a big part of history. So, what’s your star sign?
Aquarius