About Christina
Christina Cowart-Smith is an early medieval archaeologist, material culture specialist, and educator.
Alongside her current role as Deputy Head of US Universities at King’s College School (Wimbledon, UK), she remains actively involved in research, teaching, and public history. Christina regularly leads tours for the British Museum and works there and with London schools to bring archaeology to wider audiences. In addition to specialist and public lectures, she develops and delivers courses for continuing studies programs. In January 2027, Christina will join the Medieval Studies Program at the University of Victoria (Canada) as guest lecturer in Scottish Studies.
Over the past decade, Christina’s academic research on early medieval Britain (AD 500-1100) has been funded by Stanford University, the British Archaeological Association, Durham University, Hatfield College, Durham, and the Hunter Archaeological and Historical Trust. She has been the recipient of the Harvard Prize Book (2011), Stanford University Chappell Lougee Fellowship (2014), Stanford University Junior & Senior Prizes in Classics (2015 & 2016), Stanford University Robert M Golden Medal (2016), Glasgow University First Marquis Award for Scottish Studies (2017), and British Archaeological Association Ochs Scholarship (2022). In 2018, she turned down a fully-funded Cambridge Trust PhD offer from Trinity College, Cambridge to pursue the same project at Durham University owing to supervisory fit (Dr David Petts & Professor Sarah Semple) and her desire to focus on northern English and Scottish material.
Christina holds four degrees with distinction from Stanford University (BA Hons in Classics & Phi Beta Kappa), the University of Glasgow (MLitt in Medieval History), and Durham University (MA & PhD in Medieval Archaeology). In 2023, she was appointed as a fixed-term Lecturer in Celtic Studies in the University of Glasgow’s Department of Celtic & Gaelic. From 2018-2024, Christina taught undergraduates in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University on various history and archaeology modules. In 2023-24, she inaugurated the role of Senior Tutor, a pastoral and administrative role covering all departmental postgraduate teaching assistants. At the end of her tenure, Christina received a Durham University Discretionary Award (2024) for her contributions to departmental aims and undergraduate teaching.
For a full CV, visit www.linkedin.com/in/cowartsmith.
Christina is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and an Affiliate Member of the Society of Antiquaries of London. She is Trustee & Press Officer of The Gefrin Trust, an elected Committee Member of the Pictish Arts Society & Editor of its triannual newsletter, and a regular tour guide at The British Museum. She regularly gives public talks and specialist lectures. As time permits, Christina posts to the social media pages of the British Academy-funded Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture (CASSS). She is committed to this and other forms of public-facing academic engagement. Since 2017, she has excavated on Holy Island, Northumberland with Durham University & Dig Ventures.
In her spare time, Christina is an avid traditional musician and is often found playing at pub jam sessions or in Royal Scottish Country Dance bands. From the age of 9, she trained under Hebridean fiddler Calum MacKinnon. For the next decade she went onto perform on countless stages and in numerous competitions, including the U.S. Nationals for Scottish Fiddling. This music is her longest love and its people and places continue to shape her intellectual pursuits.
