Heather Duncan is a PhD student in the History department with an expected graduation date in 2025. 

Do you currently, or have you in the past worked as a TA, RA, or GA? If so, list your position(s).

Yes - TA

What are your research or academic interests?

My focus is on the frontier regions of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity. My research has a particular emphasis on barbarian groups that are not as well known or that were located in areas that are often overlooked in scholarship (such as Eastern Europe). I am especially interested in material culture and numismatics, and the way in which it can both bolster and challenge narratives we find in texts.

In 1-2 sentences, tell us more about your thesis/dissertation research.

My dissertation research is on the Kingdom of the Gepids, a barbarian successor kingdom dating to the fifth and sixth century located in what is now modern Hungary, Romania, and Serbia.

Have you received any awards or honors that you would like to highlight?

I received a FLAS Fellowship in Hungarian in 2021, and it was so much fun to study a language that is underrepresented in many US universities. I have also received the Lawrence M. Larson Scholarship for Studies in Medieval or English History (2022), the Joseph Ward Swain Prize for Best Graduate Student Paper (2023), and was featured on the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students (2022, 2023).

Do you have any blog posts or publications you that you would like to highlight? Please provide a link, if possible, as well as the title.

I published my first article last year, titled "The History of the Gepids: Forgotten or Misplaced?" in the Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association (Volume 19, no. 1). I recently completed an entry on the Roman Republic for the Elgar Encyclopaedia of Political Representation, which should be published sometime next year.

Do you have a favorite graduate class you've taken at Illinois?

I have had so many wonderful classes that it is hard to choose! I am currently taking a course on hoards and numismatics with Ralph Mathisen, which is both incredibly engaging and also very helpful with my dissertation research.

What are your hobbies outside of the program?

I love to go antiquing and hiking, and I occasionally participate in paleontological fieldwork in Montana during the summer. At home, I enjoy crafting/painting miniatures and playing video games (particularly RPGs). I also adore animals and have two cats who I love to snuggle.