I am officially a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Ancient History

And there it is! The title that I've happily struggled on paper and orally for four years! I'm officially a PhD (Dr Luis Maia de Freitas).

Last week, 18th of September, I successfully defended my dissertation in ancient cities in Greco-Roman Syria and Mesopotamia while employing Homi Bhabha's concepts of hybridity and the third space. Not only the topic was a hard one, but the experience of researching and writing at a level of a PhD opened various opportunities to showcase my research internationally, as well as enhancing my current skills for both the academic and industry worlds.

Most importantly, throughout this positive journey is the amount of contacts and friendships I will keep them for life, from supervisors to PhD colleagues and friends; from entrepreneurs to scholars. That is what makes a PhD journey fulfilling, and not just sitting down and do your research, where having a life balance helps you to store energy to absorb more knowledge.

In sum, between the 1st of July 2021 until the 18th of September 2025 (and with a six month corrections lasting until March 2026), here's a breakdown of my journey beyond the thesis:

Self-funded my PhD by working part-time at a restaurant to prepare and serve food, and other jobs as a teaching assistant, cover supervisor and student leader to deliver workshops, mark assessments and supervising pupils to collect and invest my pocket-money;

Participated in 6 international conferences and organised, as well as spearheaded 3 of them to share different topics in ancient history and classics towards 500+ speakers and attendants, including scholars and PhD candidates;

Created PhD Lounge podcast since the 29th of June 2021, leading me to two awards: Outstanding contributor for the PGR community of Swansea University and to the top 40 best PhD podcast content. Had chats and made friends with different PhDs across the world, and continuing to do so to increase my outreach internationally;

Three industry placements in education and corporate social responsibility community projects: The Brilliant Club, Rewise Ltd (still working there), and MFL Languages (will start soon).

Now what's next? The road is still long and with lots of obstacles and setbacks to go over them, but as my parents still say to me, continue to update yourself and you'll get of you want. In other words, it's not over until I win!

A huge thanks to my supervisors Nigel Pollard and Dr Stephen Harrison, to Drs Eve MacDonald and Ersin Hussein as my examiners, Mark Humphries as my chair, my parents, my brother, my girlfriend, my cats, my friends, people who I met on LinkedIn, and my acquaintances for walking alongside me during this incredible journey.

Time to now face the biggest challenge! You know what I mean ;) See you in the next one! Below is a video I made about the day I had before, on the day of the viva and the day next to it. Enjoy :)

What I wore last week, the 18th: Double breasted suit blazer and trousers from Zen, navy pinstripe

Assorted jewellery and Sekonda watch with black leather strap

Black leather double monk straps from Seaside, Portugal

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