Dr. Carolyn Willekes

Dr. Carolyn Willekes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of General Education at Mount Royal University. Her research examines human-animal interactions in the ancient Mediterranean world. Carolyn’s main focus is on equids, and her work explores the social, cultural, and economic role of equines as a marker of cultural identity and cross-cultural interaction. She works with ancient texts, material culture, and experimental archaeology to better understand the historical human-equine relationship, and the role that these animals played in the contexts of war, sport, and daily life. Her research has taken her to different regions of the Mediterranean, as well as Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. Carolyn’s work on the horse in ancient war and sport has been published in several book chapters and journal articles. She is also the author of the books The Horse in the Ancient World: From Bucephalus to the Hippodrome (I.B. Tauris, 2016) and Greek Warriors: Hoplites to Heroes (Casemate, 2017), and she is currently working on a book about the legacy of Alexander the Great’s horse, Bucephalus for Palgrave-Macmillan.

Photo credit: Renee Robyn Photography