Sean Coughlin

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Biography

Sean Coughlin is Junior Star Research Fellow at the Team for Ancient Philosophy and Principal Investigator of the GACR-funded research project, Alchemies of Scent. He holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario and a BA in philosophy and classics from McGill University in Canada. From 2014–2021, he worked research fellow at the Department of Classics, Humboldt University of Berlin. Dr. Coughlin’s research interests are in Greco-Roman science and medicine, particularly Aristotelian science and its reception; he also works on the application of multidisciplinary empirical and experimental methods to the history of ancient science. 

Research

Dr. Coughlin has written on the relationship between ancient philosophy and medicine, on the reception of ancient life sciences in late antiquity, on ancient pharmacology and botany, on the evolution of genres and literary techniques in medical and scientific writing, and on the transfer of knowledge among ancient Mediterranean people. In addition to his work on ancient perfumery, he is also working on an edition of the fragments of Athenaeus of Attalia, founder of the Pneumatist medical school; a translation and commentary of the pharmacology of Aetius of Amida; a translation of Michael of Ephesus’ commentary on Aristotle’s Generation of Animals; and an edited volume on Michael of Ephesus as commentator and philosopher. 

Education

• Ph.D. Philosophy – University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada (2013).
• M.A. Philosophy – University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada (2006).
• B.A. (Hons.) Philosophy and Classics – McGill University, Montreal, Quebec (2005).
Current Positions
• Jul. 2021– Junior Star Research Fellow, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences.
• Sep. 2021– Associate Scientist, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences.
Previous Positions
• 2021–2022 – Visiting Research Fellow, Department of Classics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2020–2021 – Research Fellow, SFB 980 Episteme in Motion and Department of Classics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2019–2020 – Researcher, Corpus Medicorum Graecorum, Berlin Academy of Sciences.
• 2014–2019 – Research Fellow, Department of Classics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2006–2014 – Teaching Assistant and Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario.
• 1998–2007 – Laboratory Assistant, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University.

Fellowships and Awards

• 2023 – Subject Development Award, Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry.
• 2022 – Award for Popularisation of the Institute of Philosophy, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences.
• 2019 – Visiting Fellow, Einstein Centre Chronoi, Einstein Foundation, Berlin.
• 2017 – Visiting Fellow, Martin Buber Society, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
• 2013 – Excellence Cluster Topoi Postdoctoral Fellowship, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2012 – Award in Excellence in Teaching, University of Western Ontario Student’s Council.
• 2011 – Mary Routledge Fellowship, University of Western Ontario (held at University of Oxford, supervisor: Christopher Shields).
• 2009 – Ontario Graduate Scholarship (declined), Province of Ontario (Canada).
• 2008 – Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Province of Ontario (Canada).
• 2007 – Faculty of Arts and Humanities Scholarship, University of Western Ontario.
• 2000 – Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation Excellence University Entrance Award.

Grants

• 2021–2026 – Junior Star Research Grant Recipient (Alchemies of Scent), 19,855,000 CZK, GA 21-30494M, Czech Science Foundation.
• 2019 – National Geographic Society, 4,500 EUR, with Dora Goldsmith (Freie Universität Berlin), for Replication of “Mendesian” Perfume from Egyptian and Greek Sources for the exhibition Queens of Egypt at National Geographic Society Headquarters, Washington DC.
• 2012 – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Conference Grant, 13,743 CAD, with Michael Griffin and Riin Sirkel, for the Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy.
• 2012 – University of Alberta Faculty of Arts Conference Grant, 1,290 CAD, with Michael Griffin and Riin Sirkel, for the Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy.
• 2011 – American Philosophical Association Conference Grant, 2,900 USD, with Michael Griffin and Riin Sirkel, for the Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy.
• 2009–2011 – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship, 40,000 CAD, Aristotle on Cosmic Order and Natural Teleology.

Publications

Books

• The Concept of Pneuma after Aristotle, edited with Orly Lewis and David Leith. Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2020. DOI: 10.17171/3-61.

Articles

2025
• Wilde, Heike, Diana Míčková, Martin Pehal, and Sean Coughlin. "The Antu-List Reconsidered: A Synoptic Reading of Edfu and Athribis Scented Material." Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 152(1): 1–20.
• "Recipes for Horror in Graeco-Roman Magic and Medicine." In: Kazantzidis, George and Chiara Thumiger, eds. Horror in Classical Antiquity and Beyond: Body, Affect, Concepts. London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 215–245. DOI: 10.5040/9781350380684.
2024
• "The Perfumer’s Garden: Scent and Well-being in Some Greek and Roman Sources." Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes 44(2–3): 118–140. DOI: 10.1080/14601176.2024.2371254.
• Ravat, Klara, Laura Juliana Prieto Pabón, and Sean Coughlin. "Making the Scent of the Perfumer’s Garden: Imperial and Common Plague Remedies Used During the Antonine Plague (ca. 165–190 CE)." Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes 44(2–3): 141–148. DOI: 10.1080/14601176.2024.2371263.
• "Art and Nature in Aristotle’s Physics: Some Antecedents in Early Greek Medicine." In: Bartos, Hynek and Vojtěch Linka, eds. Aristotle Reads Hippocrates. Leiden: Brill, pp. 126–168. Studies in Ancient Medicine 59. DOI: 10.1163/9789004703544.
• "Galen’s Hippocratism." In: Singer, P. N. and Ralph M. Rosen, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Galen. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 100–144. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190913687.013.17.
• Golubev, Victor and Sean Coughlin. "Gut Scent: The Smell of Guts." In: Thumiger, Chiara, ed. Comparative Guts: Exploring the Inside of the Body Through Time and Space. Kiel: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Exzellenzcluster ROOTS, pp. 151–157. DOI: 10.38071/2024-00345-3.
2021
• Littman, Robert J., Jay Silverstein, Dora Goldsmith, Sean Coughlin, and Hamedy Mashaly. "Eau de Cleopatra: Mendesian Perfume and Tell Timai." Near Eastern Archaeology 84(3): 216–229. DOI: 10.1086/715345.
2020
• Börno, Maria and Sean Coughlin. "Galen on Bad Style (Kakozēlía): Hippocratic Exegesis in Galen and Some Predecessors." Technai 11: 147–175. DOI: 10.19272/202010501011.
• "Cohesive Causes in Ancient Greek Philosophy and Medicine." In: Thumiger, Chiara, ed. Holism in Ancient Medicine and Its Reception. Leiden: Brill, pp. 237–267. DOI: 10.1163/9789004443143_012.
• "Pneuma and the Pneumatist School of Medicine." In: Coughlin, Sean, David Leith, and Orly Lewis, eds. The Concept of Pneuma after Aristotle. Berlin: Edition Topoi, pp. 201–234. DOI: 10.17171/3-61.
2018
• "Athenaeus of Attalia on the Psychological Causes of Bodily Health." In: Mental Illness in Ancient Medicine. Leiden: Brill, pp. 107–142. Studies in Ancient Medicine 50. DOI: 10.1163/9789004362260_00.

Translations

2025
• Havrda, Matyáš and Pauline Koetschet. Galen, On Demonstration: Reconstruction of a Lost Treatise from Greek and Arabic Sources. With English translations by Pauline Koetschet, Matyáš Havrda, and Sean Coughlin. Berlin: De Gruyter. Scientia Graeco-Arabica 43. ISBN 978-3-11-914989-1.
Reviews
2011
• "Review of Simplicius: On Aristotle’s On the Heavens 3.1–7, Ian Mueller trans." Aestimatio 8: 34–40. DOI: 10.31826/9781463235024-007.

Conferences & Workshops Organized

• 2024-10-21/23 – Co-organizer, Perfume Production in the Ancient World: Second Meeting, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences.
• 2024-07-16/17 – Co-organizer, Workshop: Replications, Alchemies of Scent, Department for the Study of Ancient and Medieval Thought, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences.
• 2023-11-07/08 – Co-organizer, International Conference: Perfume Production in the Ancient World, Department for the Study of Ancient and Medieval Thought, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences.
• 2023-06-05/06 – Co-organizer, Workshop: Scents of Religious Authority, Alchemies of Scent, Department for the Study of Ancient and Medieval Thought, and the Centre for Medieval Studies, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences.
• 2021-06-16/18 – Co-organizer, with Christine Salazar (HU) and Elisaveta Sherbakova (HU), Traditions of Materia Medica, International Conference, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, as part of SFB 980 Episteme in Bewegung.
• 2018-11-21/23 – Co-organizer, with Peter Singer (Birkbeck) and Orly Lewis (Hebrew University), Galen Reading Workshop: The Pulse Treatises, Excellence Cluster Topoi, Berlin.
• 2018-07-19/20 – Co-organizer, with Peter Singer (Birkbeck), Orly Lewis (Hebrew University), and Matyas Havrda (Czech Academy of Sciences), Galen Reading Workshop: The Pulse Treatises, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague.
• 2018-07-08/09 – Co-organizer, with Herner Máté (Munich), Blood: The Second Berlin/Munich Workshop on Aristotle’s Parts of Animals, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2018-07-05/06 – Co-organizer, with Christine Salazar (HU), Workshop: Aetius of Amida, Books on Medicine, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2017-09-13/15 – Co-organizer, with Peter Singer (Birkbeck) and Orly Lewis (Hebrew University), London Galen Reading Workshop: The Pulse Treatises and De propriis placitis, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine / Birkbeck College, University of London.
• 2016-10-14/16 – Co-organizer, with Mark Johnstone (McMaster), Riin Sirkel (UVM), and Michael Griffin (UBC), Third Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy, McMaster University, Ontario.
• 2015-07-02/04 – Co-organizer, with Orly Lewis and David Leith, The Concept of Pneuma After Aristotle, Excellence Cluster Topoi.
• 2015-01-26/27 – Co-organizer, with Orly Lewis, The Pneumatist School: Doctrines and Representation, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2014-05-02/04 – Co-organizer, with Riin Sirkel (UVM) and Michael Griffin (UBC), Second Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy, University of British Columbia.
• 2012-05-04/06 – Co-organizer, with Riin Sirkel (University of Alberta) and Michael Griffin (UBC), Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy, University of Alberta.
Courses & Reading Groups
Charles University
• 2024 – Instructor (with Robert Roreitner), Aristotle and Theophrastus on Life and Living Things, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies.
Swiss Universities (CUSO - Conférence Universitaire de Suisse Occidentale)
• 2022-05-05/07 – Invited Instructor, CUSO Workshop on Aristotle’s De anima II–III, Swiss Graduate Workshops in Ancient Philosophy.
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• 2018 – Instructor, ÜWP 5270047: Forschungskolloquium “Antike Medizin” (Ancient Medicine Research Colloquium – Graduate and Undergraduate), Department of Classics.
• 2017 – Instructor, ÜWP 5270042: Forschungskolloquium “Antike Medizin” (Ancient Medicine Research Colloquium – Graduate and Undergraduate), Department of Classics.
• 2017 – Instructor (with Prof. Dr. Philip van der Eijk), ÜWP 51018: Aristoteles über die Ursprünge des Lebens und die Entwicklung von Seele und Körper / Aristotle on the Origins of Life and the Development of Soul and Body, Department of Classics.
• 2016 – Assistant Instructor (with Prof. Dr. Philip van der Eijk), ÜWP 51043: Aristoteles’ Nikomachische Ethik: Moral, Natur, Medizin / Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics: Morality, Nature and Medicine, Department of Classics.
University of Western Ontario
• 2014 – Instructor, PHIL 2006E: The Metaphysics & Epistemology of Witchcraft, Department of Philosophy.
• 2012 – Instructor, Philosophy 2200F: Ancient Philosophy, Huron University College, Department of Philosophy.
• 2011–2012 – Instructor, PHIL 2006E: The Metaphysics & Epistemology of Witchcraft, Department of Philosophy.
• 2008–2009 – Instructor, PHIL 1300E: Introduction to Philosophy, Department of Philosophy.
• 2007–2008 – Teaching Assistant, Philosophy 212: Introduction to Logic, Department of Philosophy.
• 2007 – Teaching Assistant, Philosophy 023G: Questions of the Day, Department of Philosophy.
• 2006 – Teaching Assistant, Philosophy 153F: Death, Department of Philosophy.

Talks

2024
• 2024-11-15 – "Two Traditions of Materia Medica" – Invited lecture, Horizons of the Humanities Series, Ceraneum Center, University of Łódź.
• 2024-11-14 – "Scents of Healing: Reading Greco-Egyptian Perfume Recipes" – Invited lecture and workshop, Horizons of the Humanities Series, Ceraneum Center, University of Łódź.
• 2024-10-01 – "Perfumery and Alchemy in the Ancient World" – Observing Nature, Interpreting Signs: Scientific Knowledge Production in the Ancient World, Universität Tübingen.
• 2024-07-16 – "Can We Use Modern Chemistry to Understand the ‘Chemistry’ of the Past? Case Study: Myrrh and Stacte" – Workshop: Replications, Department for the Study of Ancient and Medieval Thought, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences.
• 2024-06-20 – "Providence and Platonism in Michael of Ephesus’ Commentaries on Aristotle’s Biology" – International Society for Neoplatonic Studies, Trinity College, Dublin.
• 2024-06-06 – "The Fragrance of Places We Have Not Known" – Experimental Scent Summit, Institute for Art and Olfaction Meeting, Lisbon.
• 2024-05-28 – "Perfumery and Alchemy in Greco-Roman Egypt" (with Victor Golubev) – Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry, University of Oxford.
• 2024-05-10 – "A Digital Approach to Ancient Recipes" – Colloquium Ceraneum VII, Ceraneum Center, University of Łódź.
• 2024-05-08 – "Perfumery and Alchemy in Greco-Roman Egypt" – Department lecture, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University.
• 2024-02-29 – "Athenaeus on Causes at Def. med. 167-170 (66,18-68,16 Kollesch)" – The (Pseudo-)Galenic Work Medical Definitions in Its Intellectual Context, Department of Classics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
2023
• 2023-12-11 – "A 3rd Century Secret Ink and Its Reception: A Study of the Stable Transmission of a Recipe that Never Worked" – INK-Quiry: Inks Between Texts and Materiality, Universidad Complutense, Madrid.
• 2023-11-02 – "Art and Nature in Aristotle’s Physics" – The Higher Seminar in the History of Philosophy, organized by Pauliina Remes, Uppsala University.
• 2023-10-27 – "Perfumery and Alchemy in Greco-Roman Egypt" – Faculty of Science, Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Charles University.
• 2023-09-27 – "Past Scents of the Perfumer’s Garden" – Odeuropa Smellinar.
• 2023-06-09 – "Gut Scent: The Smell of Guts" (with Victor Golubev and Klara Ravat) – Comparative Guts, Kunsthalle Kiel, Cluster of Excellence ROOTS, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.
• 2023-06-05 – "Later Greek Medical Sources of Religious Scents" – Scents of Religious Authority, Department for the Study of Ancient and Medieval Thought, and Centre for Medieval Studies, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences.
• 2023-05-30/31 – "What Can Historians, Archaeologists, and Classicists Learn from Sensory Experience?" – Department lecture and seminar, Sensorium Working Group Seminar, Institut für Altertumswissenschaften, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen.
• 2023-05-17 – "The Meaning of ‘Stypsis’ in the Context of Perfumery" – Colloquium Ceraneum V, Ceraneum Center, University of Łódź.
• 2023-03-29 – "The Common Technical Vocabulary of Perfumery, Dyeing, and Alchemy" – Invited lecture, Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Exeter.
• 2023-03-03 – "Some Common Technical Vocabulary of Perfumery, Dyeing, and Alchemy" – Turba Seminar, Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry.
• 2023-02-13 – "The ‘Antu’ List Reconsidered: A Synoptic Reading of Edfu and Athribis Ingredients" – Department of Philosophy and Communications, University of Bologna.
• 2023-01-23 – "Stypsis: Some Shared Technical Vocabulary of Perfumery, Dyeing, and Alchemy" – Ancient Medicine Colloquium Lecture, Department of Classics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
2022
• 2022-11-07 – "The Common Technical Vocabulary of Perfumery, Dyeing, and Alchemy" – Invited lecture, Faculty of Classics (C Caucus), University of Cambridge.
• 2022-10-07 – "Experimental Approaches to the Study of Past Scents" – Keynote lecture, Senses in Ancient Philosophy and Science, Utrecht University.
• 2022-10-06 – "Cohesive Causes in Ancient Greek Philosophy and Medicine" – Invited lecture, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Utrecht University.
• 2022-09-07 – "The Fragrance of Places We Have Not Known" – I’m Your Venus: The Reception of Antiquity in Modern Cosmetic Advertising and Marketing, Cardiff University.
• 2022-05-12 – "Antyu and Stakte: Resins and Perfume Production in Ptolemaic Egypt" – Panel: Experimental Approaches to the History of Perfumery in the Ancient Mediterranean, Colloquium Ceraneum IV, Ceraneum Center, University of Łódź.
• 2022-05-08 – "Perfumery in Ptolemaic Egypt and Tell Timai: An Experimental Approach" (with Jay Silverstein) – Annual Meeting of the American Research Centre in Egypt.
• 2022-02-18 – "Alchemies of Scent: Reconstructing the Practices of Ancient Greco-Egyptian Perfumery" – Anneliese-Maier-Forschungspreis Kolloquium: Editions Practices (G. Most), Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin.
2021
• 2021-11-24 – "Alchemies of Scent: Reconstructing the Practices of Ancient Greco-Egyptian Perfumery" – History of Science, Medicine and Technology Group Seminars, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh.
• 2021-11-20 – "Recipes for Horrors" – Medical Knowledge and Its ‘Sitz im Leben’: Body and Horror in Antiquity, Roots Cluster of Excellence, University of Kiel.
• 2021-11-12 – "Athenaeus of Attalia as a Reader of Hippocrates" – Physiologies impériales (Physiologies médicales et philosophiques, 2021), Initiative Sciences de l'Antiquité, Université Paris-Sorbonne.
• 2021-09-16 – "Art and Nature in Aristotle's Physics: Some Antecedents" – Aristotle Reads Hippocrates, Faculty of Humanities and Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague.
• 2021-06-17 – "Alchemies of Scent" – Traditions of Materia Medica, SFB 980 Episteme in Bewegung, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2021-05-12 – "Greco-Roman Perfume and Aromatherapy Recipes" – Soothing Gardens: Ancient Ideas and Practices About Plants, Natural Environments, and Well-being, Cluster of Excellence Roots, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.
• 2021-04-19 – "Eggs and Invisible Ink" – L. Raggetti Seminar, University of Bologna.
• 2021-04-15 – "Democritus’ Party Tricks" – Colloquium Ceraneum III, University of Łódź.
2020
• 2020-12-18 – "Recreating Democritus’ Party Tricks" – Anneliese-Maier-Forschungspreis Kolloquium: Editions Practices (G. Most), Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin.
• 2020-02-18 – "The Pneumatists on Time, Body, Vitality" – Workshop: Kairos, Krisis, Rhythmos: Time and Time Awareness in Ancient Medicine, Einstein Centre Chronoi, Berlin.
2019
• 2019-06-14 – "Notes for the Replication of Mendesian, Metopium, and Susinum" – Anneliese-Maier-Forschungspreis Kolloquium: Editions Practices (G. Most), Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin.
• 2019-03-01 – "Egyptian Ointments in the Athenian Marketplace" – Invited lecture, AlchemEast Project, University of Bologna.
• 2019-02-28 – "How Many Kinds of Spontaneous Generation Are There in Ancient Greek Philosophy?" – Workshop on Spontaneous Generation, University of Bologna.
2018
• 2018-12-15 – "The Topics, Aristotle’s Biology, and the Necessity of Settling" – Tartu Workshop in Ancient Philosophy, University of Tartu, Estonia.
• 2018-10-25 – "Aristotle and the Manticore" – Foreign Influences: Philosophy and the Circulation of Knowledge in Antiquity, University of Montreal.
• 2018-07-31 – "Writing About Plant Simples from Theophrastus to Aetius of Amida: Some Case Studies" – De materia medica: Herbals and Botanical Classification from Ancient to Early Modern Times in Cross-Cultural Perspective, Freie Universität Berlin.
• 2018-07-13 – "Galen on Bad Taste: Hippocratic Exegesis in Galen and His Predecessors" (with Maria Börno) – Celtic Classics Conference, University of St Andrews.
• 2018-07-08 – "The Topics, Aristotle’s Biology, and the Necessity of Settling" (with David Merry) – Blood Workshop, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2018-07-05 – "Identifying Plant Simples in Aetii Amideni Libri Medicinales I" – Workshop: Aetius of Amida, Books on Medicine, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2018-01-22 – "The Pneumatists on Pneuma" – Institut für Klassische Philologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2018-01-15 – "Galen on Bad Taste: Hippocratic Exegesis in Galen and His Predecessors" (with Maria Börno) – Institut für Klassische Philologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
2017
• 2017-12-01 – "Athenaeus and Galen on Aristotle’s Metaphor of the Automata" – The Body as Machine in Antiquity: Towards an Early History of Iatromechanics, Department of Classics and Philosophy, University of Cyprus.
• 2017-09-30 – "Oribasius and the Pneumatist School" – Internationale medizinhistorische Tagung: Sammlung und Fragmentierung: Medizinische Kompilationen des Morgen- und Abendlands und ihre Quellen, Charité Universitätsmedizin / Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2017-09-29 – "Theophrastus on Plants That Affect the Soul" – Psychopharmaka in Ancient Greek Medicine and Thought, Excellence Cluster Topoi / Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, Berlin.
• 2017-09-11 – "Two Models of Bodily Coherence and Incoherence in Aristotle’s Thought" – Ancient Holisms, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, Senate House, University of London.
• 2017-07-14 – "Aristotle on the Method of διαίρεσις: Parts of Animals 1.2–4" – Parts of Animals Workshop, Munich School of Ancient Philosophy.
• 2017-07-07 – "Topics III: Topoi of Comparison in Aristotle’s Natural Science" (with David Merry) – The Central Books of Aristotle’s Topics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2017-06-07 – "The Concept of the ‘Mean-Time’ in Aristotle’s Biology" (with Giouli Korobili) – Somatic Times, Martin Buber Society, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
• 2017-05-26 – "Allusion and Attribution in the Fragments of Athenaeus of Attalia" – Anneliese-Maier-Forschungspreis Kolloquium: Editions Practices (G. Most Seminar), Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin.
• 2017-05-04 – "Comments on Johansen on Generation of Animals 2.1–3" – Aristotle on Living Beings: The Generation of Animals, Excellence Initiative (ZUK 63), University of Tübingen.
• 2017-04-22 – "The Discussion of Causes in Clement’s Eighth Stromateus: Medical Sources" – ‘Liber Logicus’ (‘Stromata VIII’) by Clement of Alexandria: Proof, Inquiry, Scepticism, Causation in an Early Christian Text, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy, Prague.
• 2017-01-28 – "On the Principle of Separation in Aristotle’s Biology" – 3rd Berlin-Munich Graduate Workshop, RTG: Philosophy, Science and the Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
2016
• 2016-11-14 – "Athenaeus on the Elements" – Institut für Klassische Philologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2016-10-16 – "On Michael Griffin’s Aristotle’s Categories in the Early Roman Empire" – The Third Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
• 2016-09-29 – "The Physiology of Reason: Michael of Ephesus’ Engagement with Platonism and Medicine in His Biological Writings" – Michael of Ephesus–Philosopher and Commentator, Institut für Philosophie II, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany.
• 2016-09-19 – "Athenaeus of Attalia, the Aristotelian" – Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Utrecht, Netherlands.
• 2016-05-09 – "Two Traditions of Materia Medica" – Institut für Klassische Philologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2016-04-29 – "Athenaeus, the Stoics, and Materia Medica" – American Association of the History of Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• 2016-04-23 – "Athenaeus of Attalia on the Psychological Causes of Bodily Health" – Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
• 2016-01-05 – "Athenaeus of Attalia on Reproduction" – Institut für Klassische Philologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
2015
• 2015-11-27 – "Aristotle on Metaphor in Science" – Topoi Lab D.
• 2015-10-27 – "Stoic and Peripatetic Elements in Galen and the Nature of Bodies" – Galen’s Natural Philosophy, Institut für Klassische Philologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2015-04-24 – "What Are Good Definitions for a Doctor? What Good Are Definitions for a Doctor?" – Excellence Cluster Topoi LAB D, Berlin, Germany.
• 2015-01-27 – "Athenaeus on Definition and Division" – The Pneumatist School: Doctrines and Representation, Excellence Cluster Topoi, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2015-01-26 – "A ‘Pneumatist’ School?" (with Orly Lewis) – The Pneumatist School: Doctrines and Representation, Excellence Cluster Topoi, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
2014
• 2014-11-10 – "The Aristotelian Athenaeus" – Institut für Klassische Philologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2014-10-29 – "The Female in Aristotle’s Biology and Its Byzantine Reception" (with Marzia Soardi) – Gynäkologie, Frauenheilkunde und heilkundige Frauen in medizinischen Diskursen und medizinischer Praxis der Spätantike, SFB 980: Episteme in Bewegung, Freie Universität und Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
• 2014-10-08 – "Mental Disease According to the So-Called ‘Pneumatist’ School" (with Orly Lewis) – Mental Disease in Ancient Medicine, Alexander von Humboldt Professur, Institut für Klassische Philologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
2013
• 2013-08-14 – "Method and Metaphor in Aristotle’s Science of Nature" – Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
2012
• 2012-10-24 – "The Authors of Evil: On Witches, Witchcraft, and the Irrational" – Department of English, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
2011
• 2011-06-01 – "On Aristotle’s Argument for the Separation of the Sexes: GA II I 732a1–10" – Canadian Philosophical Association Congress, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada.
• 2011-06-01 – "Comments on Professor Byrne, ‘Aristotle on the Dual Nature of Natural Substances’" – Canadian Philosophical Association Congress, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada.
• 2011-03-05 – "The Principle of Separation in Aristotle’s Biology" – 34th Annual Workshop in Ancient Philosophy, Washington University, St. Louis, USA.
2010
• 2010-06-02 – "Philoponus’ Bright Idea" – Canadian Philosophical Association Congress, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
• 2010-05-25 – "Inferences from the Better and Aristotle’s Argument for the Separation of the Sexes" – Fifth Pittsburgh-London Workshop on Aristotle’s Generation of Animals, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
2009
• 2009-09-08 – "The Physiological Character of Aristotelian Psychological States" – Upper Canada Society for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, London, Canada.
• 2009-05-25 – "The Breath of Life in Aristotle" – Canadian Philosophical Association Congress, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
2008
• 2008-04-27 – "Aristotle on the Mechanisms of Vision in GA 5.1–2" – Fourth Pittsburgh-London Workshop on Aristotle’s Generation of Animals, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
2007
• 2007-10-21 – "Reason from Without: Some Comments on De Generatione Animalium 2.3" – Second Ancient and Medieval Colloquium: The Materiality and Immateriality of Soul, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
• 2007-05-27 – "Teleology in Theophrastus’ De Causis Plantarum I" – Canadian Philosophical Association Congress, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
2006
• 2006-10-28 – "Comments on Professor Nielsen’s ‘The Private Parts of Animals’" – First Ancient and Medieval Colloquium: Ancient Teleologies, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.

Reviews

Aestimatio, Apeiron, Ancient Philosophy Today; Early Science and Medicine; History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals; Isis; Journal of Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies; Studia Ceranea, Studies in the History of Philosophy of Mind; Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Outreach

Public Lectures

• 2023-12-01 – Past Scents of the Perfumer’s Garden – Annual Meeting, Czech Association of Aromatherapists.
• 2023-07-04 – Past Scents of the Perfumer’s Garden – XXXI Summer School of Classical Studies.
• 2022-11-24 – Recreating the Perfumery of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece – UNIQORN Lectures, VŠCHT.
• 2022-06-03 – Alchemies of Scent: What Experiments Reveal About Ancient Perfumery and the History of Chemistry – European Philosophy Festival, Velký sál, Jupiter Club, Třebíč. (With Jakub Smrček).
Workshops
• 2024-11-06/07 – Workshops #6-7: Týden Akademie věd ČR / Week of the Academy of Sciences – With Julie Tomšová, Diana Míčková, and Laura Juliana Prieto Pabón.
• 2023-04-23 – Workshop #4: Smell Lab x Alchemies of Scent – Past and Present Scents of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece – Smell Lab, Berlin.
• 2022-06-11/12 – Workshop #2–3: Metopion Perfume – Past and Present Scents of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece – With Klara Ravat and Heike Wilde.
• 2022-04-21 – Workshop #1: An Introduction to Perfume in Egypt and Greece – Husova 7, Prague.

Exhibitions

• 2019-03-01 / 2019-09-15 – Queens of Egypt – National Geographic Society, Washington DC. Replication of “Mendesian” perfume from Egyptian and Greek sources for an olfactory installation. (With Dora Goldsmith, Freie Universität Berlin).
• 2016-05-11 / 2016-09-11 – The Soul is an Octopus: Ancient Ideas of Life and the Body – Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité, Berlin. Curated by Uta Kornmeier.

Exhibition Catalogues

• The Physiology of Perception – In: Uta Kornmeier, ed., The Soul is an Octopus: Ancient Ideas of Life and the Body, Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité, Berlin, 2016, pp. 52–61. Available online.
• Reproduction and the Soul – In: Uta Kornmeier, ed., The Soul is an Octopus: Ancient Ideas of Life and the Body, Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité, Berlin, 2016, pp. 63–67. Available online.

Performance

• 2022-06-17 – Scent Accompaniment for a Dramatic Performance Based on a Mythological Story – Script and Dramaturgy: Eliška Šolcová, Klára Metge.

Artistic Residencies

• 2019-08-09 / 2019-08-18 – Ritual – Globe Gallery, Grabowsee, Oranienburg.