Dr Sarah Symons

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Biography

Sarah Symons is a member of the School of Interdisciplinary Science at McMaster University in Ontario. She teaches aspects of history of science, science communication, mathematics, and astronomy. Sarah has been a tutor at Madingley Hall since 2002 and is also Director of the William J. McCallion Planetarium in Hamilton, Ontario.

Sarah is interested in innovative teaching methods and is an instructor in Integrated Science, an undergraduate degree programme taught by research. She enjoys interactive teaching methods and prefers students to be actively involved in the classroom. Her main field of research is ancient Egyptian astronomy.

Qualifications:

PhD History of Astronomy, University of Leicester

Research

Observational astronomy in ancient Egypt including astronomical texts, tables, diagrams, and instruments.

Agent-based modelling of ancient civilisations, looking at urbanisation and the impact of information transfer on agricultural societies.

Active learning techniques in university level courses, particularly those with interdisciplinary aspects.

Selected Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Symons, S L and Khurana, H ‘A catalogue of ancient Egyptian sundials’ Journal for the History of Astronomy 47 pp 375-385 , 2016
Symons, S L ‘Classification of Ancient Egyptian Astronomical “Diagrams”’ 'Journal for the History of Astronomy', 46(1), pp 66-76 , 2015
Cockcroft, R & Symons, S L ‘Ancient Egyptian diagonal star tables: a new fragment, and updates for S16C and S1C’. 'Journal for the History of Astronomy' 45 pp 197-208 , 2014
Symons, S L & Cockcroft, R ‘An ancient Egyptian diagonal star table in Mallawi, Egypt’ 'Journal for the History of Astronomy' 44 pp 457-63 , 2013
Cockcroft, R & Symons, S L ‘Diagonal star tables on coffins A1C and S2Hil: A new triangle decan and a reversed table’. PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt / Egyptology. 10 (3) pp 1–10 , 2013
Symons, S L ‘Two fragments of diagonal star clocks in the British Museum’ 'Journal for the History of Astronomy' 33 pp 257-260 , 2002

BOOK CHAPTERS

Symons, S L ‘Challenges of interpreting Egyptian astronomical texts’ in A Imhausen & T Pommerening (eds) ‘Translating Writings of Early Scholars in the ancient Near East, Egypt, Rome, and Greece - Methodological Aspects with Examples’ Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 344. De Gruyter, pp 379-402 , 2016
Symons, S L, ‘Contexts and elements of decanal star lists in ancient Egypt’ in D Bawanypeck & A Imhausen (eds) 'Traditions of written knowledge in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia'. Alter Orient und Altes Testament 403. Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 91-122 , 2015
Symons, S L, ‘A Star’s Year: The Annual Cycle in the Ancient Egyptian Sky’ in J M Steele (ed.) 'Calendars and Years: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient World', Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 1-33 , 2007
Symons, S L, ‘The “transit star clock” in the Book of Nut’ in J M Steele & A Imhausen (eds.) 'Under One Sky', Ugarit-Verlag, Münster, pp 429-446 , 2002

CONFERENCE PAPERS

Symons, S L ‘A survey of astronomical tables on Middle Kingdom coffin lids’ in G Rosati and M C Guidotti (eds.) ‘Proceedings of the 11th International Congress of Egyptologists’ Archaeopress, Oxford, pp 608–612 , 2017
Symons, S L & Raine, D J ‘Agent-based models of ancient Egypt’ in N Strudwick (ed.) 'Information Technology and Egyptology' Gorgias Press, Piscataway, NJ, pp 129-146 , 2008
Symons, S L ‘Egyptian shadow clocks’ 'Proceedings of the XXth International Congress of History of Science' Brepols, Turnhout , 2002

OTHER

S L Symons, R Cockcroft, J Bettencourt, and C Koykka, Ancient Egyptian astronomy. [Online research database] Available at: http://aea.physics.mcmaster.ca/ , 2013
Symons, S L, and Tasker, E ‘Stars of the Dead’ Scientific American, 313(4), pp 70–75 , 2015

Memberships

Member of the Egypt Exploration Society

Member of the International Association of Egyptologists

Member of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Institute of Continuing Education
Madingley Hall
Madingley
Cambridge
CB23 8AQ

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