Andrew Dennison Barker, (24 April 1943 – 22 July 2021) was a British

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and academic, specialising in

ancient Greek music Music was almost universally present in ancient Greek society, from marriages, funerals, and religious ceremonies to theatre, folk music, and the ballad-like reciting of epic poetry. This played an integral role in the lives of ancient Greeks. ...

and the intersection between musical theory and philosophy. He was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Classics at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

from 1998 to 2008, and had previously taught at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Selwyn (bishop of Lichfield), Georg ...

.'BARKER, Prof. Andrew Dennison', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 16 Oct 2017
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Early life and education

Barker was born on 24 April 1943. He was educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

, then an all-boys

charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...

Southwater Southwater is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England, with a population of roughly 10,000. It is administered within Horsham District Council and West Sussex County Council. History One of the oldest ...

, Sussex. He studied '' Literae Humaniores'' at

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. He then studied at the

philosophy of biology The philosophy of biology is a subfield of philosophy of science, which deals with epistemology, epistemological, metaphysics, metaphysical, and ethics, ethical issues in the biological and biomedical sciences. Although philosophers of science and ...

at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, from which he completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.

Academic career

Barker's early specialism was

ancient Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC. Philosophy was used to make sense of the world using reason. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including astronomy, epistemology, mathematics, political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics ...

. He later became interested in ancient musical theory and the

music of ancient Greece Music was almost universally present in ancient Greece, ancient Greek society, from marriages, funerals, and Religion in ancient Greece, religious ceremonies to Theatre of ancient Greece, theatre, folk music, and the ballad-like reciting of epic ...

. This led to an interest in the "points of intersection between musical theory and philosophy". In 1970, Barker joined the Philosophy Department of the

as a lecturer in philosophy. In 1976, he joined the

Faculty of Classics Faculty or faculties may refer to: Academia * Faculty (academic staff), professors, researchers, and teachers of a given university or college (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a large department of a university by field of study (us ...

, University of Cambridge as an assistant lecturer in classics. From 1977 to 1978, he was also a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

, and its director of studies in classics and philosophy. He returned to Warwick in 1978 and was promoted to senior lecturer in 1987. Wanting to move from a philosophy specialist to a

, Barker joined the Classics Department of the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

in 1992. He was a senior lecturer in classics from 1992 to 1995, and was appointed a

in 1995. He returned to England to join the

in 1996 as Reader in Classics. He was promoted to Professor of Classics in 1998. He also held a British Academy Research Professorship between 2000 and 2003. He retired from full-time academia in 2008 and was appointed

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

Personal life

Barker was first married to Susan Margaret Hough; their marriage was dissolved in 1976. Together they had two sons. In 1978, he married Jill Davida Newman. Together they had three children: one daughter and two sons. Barker died on 22 July 2021, at the age of 78.

Honours

In 2005, Barker was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

for the humanities and social sciences. He gave the inaugural ''Martin West Memorial Lecture'' at the University of Oxford in March 2017; his lecture was titled "Migrating musical myths: the case of Euripides and the Libyan ''lotos''".

Selected works

* * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Andrew Dennison 1943 births 2021 deaths British classical scholars Hellenists British music theorists Classical scholars of the University of Birmingham Classical scholars of the University of Cambridge Fellows of Selwyn College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy British scholars of ancient Greek philosophy People educated at Christ's Hospital Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Australian National University alumni Academic staff of the University of Otago