Ethan joined the Department of European and International Studies as a PhD researcher in October 2024. His research is focused on how far right movements utilise classical history to communicate ideologies and discourse through visual forms of communication.

Ethan holds a BSc in Politics and International Relations (2023) and an MRes in Politics and International Studies (2024) from the University of Bath. 

Research interests

• The European and American far right
• Classical reception
• Visual communication
• Discourse and social media

Doctoral research

My project aims to trace the uses of Ancient Greek and Roman history, symbols and myths in the visual propaganda of far right movements in Italy and the USA, from 1945 to 2025. In recent years, there has been a resurgence in the use of Greek and Roman symbolism in the discourse of the far right online and within physical spaces. My research aims to address such uses of historical narrative, by contextualising how far right discourses around classical history have manifested previously through forms of visual communication and discourses such as posters, but also how they continue to be utilised by far right movements. This projects adopts an interdisciplinary approach between critical discourse studies and classical reception to address how Graeco-Roman history is employed by the far right visually to ostensibly promote and legitimise dangerous narratives. This will be conceptualised through the discourse historical approach, to assess the discursive power relations between classical history and far right discourses. 

Doctoral supervisors

Dr Russell Foster and Dr Justine McConnell