About

I joined the University of Derby as a Senior Learning Designer in August 2022 and work to lead and support initiatives to improve the quality of teaching and learning across the university.

Prior to joining Derby, I have held a range of academic, managerial, and teaching positions across a variety of sectors and contexts. I completed my doctorate in Classics and Archaeology at the University of Nottingham in 2020 and have taught across subjects including Classical Languages, Ancient History, Philosophy and Theology, Liberal Arts, and Teacher Education. Outside of Higher Education, I have also held a Research Fellowship at the John W. Kluge Centre at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., served as a Research Advocate at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, acted as a Finds Assistant for the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme, and managed the library and education services of a category C prison in the Midlands.

In my current role as Senior Learning Designer, I use these varied experiences and specialisms to ensure that University of Derby students have the best possible outcomes and enjoy a positive student experience.

Teaching responsibilities

My current role is not a teaching-focused one. However, in the past I have taught a range of subjects from Foundation Year to Masters level. This has included:

• Beginners' Latin
• Political Philosophy of the Enlightenment
• Classics and Film
• Intellectual History of the American Revolution
• Digital Technology in Education

Research interests

As my publications and papers attest, I am actively engaged in research in a range of fields including, but not limited to:

• The reception of the ancient world in American intellectual culture
• The role of digital technology in further and higher education
• The ongoing legacy and reputation of William Shakespeare
• The life and works of Arnold Bennett

Qualifications

• BA (Hons) Ancient History - University of Nottingham
• MA Ancient History - University of Nottingham
• PhD Classics - University of Nottingham

Recent conferences

Keynote Addresses

'The Democratisation of Digital Learning in Higher Education’ (01/07/2022) Teaching and Learning Conference, Bishop Grosseteste University.

Selected Conference Papers

‘Professional Identity in a Digital Age: The Formation of Professional Identity in FE educators during the Covid-19 Pandemic’ (17/07/2022) Association for Research in Post-Compulsory Education Biennial Conference, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford.

‘Fleshing out the Digital Footprint: An Exploration of User Analytics and the Students’ Experience of Blended Learning’ (15/07/22) Association for Research in Post-Compulsory Education Biennial Conference, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford.

‘Learning Design for the Modern Construction Industry’ (30/06/2022) Teaching and Learning Conference, Bishop Grosseteste University.

‘Boom and Bust in Arnold Bennett’s Potteries’ (11/06/2022) New Voices in Midland History, University of Birmingham.

‘Rebooting Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Design in the Arts’ (03/05/2019) University of Nottingham Teaching and Learning Conference, University of Nottingham.

‘The Depiction of the Ancient World on the Eighteenth-century American Stage.’ (23/02/2019) Historical Fictions Conference, Manchester Central Library.

‘Beyond Cato: Towards a New History of the Depiction of the Ancient World on the eighteenth-century American stage’ (21/07/2017) 10^th Celtic Classical Conference, McGill University & L’Université de Montréal.

In the media

I have appeared as a guest on the following podcasts:

• Learning and Teaching Chatshow (12/05/2022) ‘Work-based learning and assessment’, De Montfort University, [https://anchor.fm/landtchatshow/episodes/LT-Chat-Show-Episode-11---Gary-Fisher-Work-based-learning-and-assessment-e1ie7ti]
• Treasure Island Pedagogies (10/06/2022) ‘The One with the Kettle and the Mug’, University of Liverpool, Centre for Innovation in Education, [https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/centre-for-innovation-in-education/blog/general/treasure-island-pedagogies-episode20/]. 

I have delivered the following public lectures:

• ‘An Ethnography of the Potteries: Arnold Bennett’s Literary Method and the Blurring of Fact and Fiction’ (26/10/2022) Arnold Bennett Society, Arnold Bennett Society.
• ‘The Future of Employment within the Digital Learning Sector’ (13/07/2021) Future Academics, University of Nottingham.
• ‘Moving Pictures: The Shakespeare Scrapbooks of George Williams’ (08/05/2019) Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Research Conversations, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
• ‘Roman Fathers and Grecian Daughters: The Depiction of the Ancient World on the early American Stage’ (05/06/2018) Kluge Centre Research Seminars, Library of Congress.
• ‘The Classics in the Colonies: Depictions of the Ancient World on the Colonial American Stage’ (07/12/2017) Hull & District Classical Association, University of Hull.
  
  

I have written the following editorials and short-form articles:

• G. F. Fisher (09/01/2023) ‘What a twelfth-century Abbot can teach modern college leaders about the value of compassion’, FE News, https://www.fenews.co.uk/exclusive/what-a-twelfth-century-abbot-can-teach-modern-college-leaders-about-the-value-of-compassion/
• G. F. Fisher (21/06/2021) ‘The problem with prison, from an academic who has been there’, Midlands Historical Review.
• G. F. Fisher (06/04/2018) 'Who put the bees in Beeston', The Beestonian.

My research has been reported on in the following news outlets:

• Stratford Herald (06/07/2019) ‘Scrapbook Shakespeare!’

Recent publications

Edited Volumes

G. F. Fisher & D. Robinson (2021) Travels in Isolation: Memory, Place and Travel Writing in an Age of Global Quarantine (Anthem Press: New York).

Chapters in Edited Volumes

G. F. Fisher (2021) ‘A town called entropy: Boom and bust in Arnold Bennett’s Potteries’, in G. F. Fisher & D. Robinson (eds) Travels in Isolation: Memory, Place and Travel Writing in an Age of Global Quarantine (Anthem Press: New York), 119-34.

David Robinson and G. F. Fisher (2021) 'Introduction', in G. F. Fisher & D. Robinson (eds) Travels in Isolation: Memory, Place and Travel Writing in an Age of Global Quarantine (Anthem Press: New York), 1-10.

Hughes, G. F. Fisher, C. James, H. Jeffery, J. Peake, and M. Watts (2020) ‘Nurturing effective digital learning design in the Arts and Humanities’, in T. Byrom (ed.) Meeting the Teaching and Learning Challenges in 21^st Century Higher Education: Universal Design (Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Newcastle upon Tyne), 64-83.

Journal Articles

G. F. Fisher (2020) ‘Tradition in transformation: the classical curriculum in the colonial and early national American college’, Classical Receptions Journal 12(3), 340-56.

G. F. Fisher (2018) ‘Capitol, Capital, and the Ancient City: The Influence of Roman Urban and Architectural Models on the Design of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C.’, Midlands Historical Review 2.

Book Reviews

G. F. Fisher (2022) ‘Review: Screening Love and War in Troy: Fall of a City, edited by A. Augoustakis and M.S. Cyrino’, Journal of Classics Teaching. DOI: 10.1017/S2058631022000484

G. F. Fisher (2021) ‘Review: Quick Hits for Teaching with Digital Humanities, edited by Young, C. J., Morrone, M., Wilson, T. C. & Wilson, E. A.’, Education Review.

G. F. Fisher (2021) ‘Review: Religion in the Age of Digitalization: From New Media to Spiritual Machines, edited by Giulia Isetti, Elisa Innerhofer, Harald Pechlaner and Michael de Rachewiltz’, Reading Religion, [https://readingreligion.org/9780367408190/religion-in-the-age-of-digitalization/]

G. F. Fisher (2021) ‘Review: Greeks and Romans on the Latin American Stage, edited by R. Andújar and K. Nikoloutsos’, Bryn Mawr Classical Review.

G. F. Fisher (2017) ‘Review: The Colonial American Stage, A Documentary Calendar by Odai Johnson and William J. Burling’, Midlands Historical Review 1.