Sarah Symons

Dr. Sarah Symons is a Full Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Science, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Her research in history of astronomy concentrates on interpreting astronomical texts and instruments from ancient Egypt and investigating how the night sky was perceived, explained, and depicted. She is the editor of the ancient Egyptian astronomy database, an online resource for scholars, and co-edited Down to the Hour: Short Time in the Ancient Mediterranean with Kassandra Jackson Miller in 2019. She is also the Coordinator of the award-winning Honours Integrated Science Program at McMaster University, teaching primarily in science literacy/communication and history of science.

Forthcoming and recent publications

• Symons, S L, (accepted in final form). The lost coffins of Heny: astronomical content on atypical Middle Kingdom coffin fragments. Proceedings of Second Vatican Coffins Conference.
• Symons, S L, Harvey, C T, & Eyles, C H, (accepted in final form). Innovating, Integrating, and Influencing: a science program for the 21st century. In MacPherson Institute (eds.) Reflections on Teaching and Learning at McMaster: 50 Years of Stories. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
• Symons, S L, (accepted). Ancient Egyptian water clocks, sundials, and other astronomical instruments. In J M Steele (ed) Oxford Handbook of Ancient Astronomy.
• Gretton, S N, Harvey, C T, Raine, D J, Hurkett, C P, Williams, D P, & Symons, S L, (2022). Revisiting the Research-Teaching Nexus Framework: Two case studies introducing research into programme level, undergraduate teaching. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 33(2) pp 259-272.
• Miller, K J and Symons, S L eds., (2019). Down to the Hour: Short Time in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East. Time, Astronomy, and Calendars 8. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004416291
• Symons, S L (2017) ‘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.
• Symons, S L (2016) ‘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.
• Symons, S L and Khurana, H, (2016) ‘A catalogue of ancient Egyptian sundials’ Journal for the History of Astronomy 47 pp 375-385.