Aleah Hernandez

Biography

Aleah Hernandez, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Classics at the University of California, Irvine. She received her Ph.D. in Classics from UC Irvine in 2017, where her dissertation examined depictions of violence in the Iliad and Greek tragedy. Hernandez teaches courses in Greek and Latin language, classical mythology, and classical civilization, including courses on classical Greece, scientific and medical terminology, and the senior capstone seminar.

Hernandez's research focuses on Greek epic and tragedy, with particular attention to narratology and classical reception in contemporary media. Her published work includes an article on Pandora and automata in the film Ex Machina, which appeared in New Classicists in 2022. She has presented her research at conferences including the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, where she delivered a paper on mourning in the Iliad in 2025.

Hernandez serves on the Humanities Executive Committee at UC Irvine and on the CAMWS Latin Translation Exam Committee and Program Committee. She has also served as undergraduate advisor for the Department of Classics and as content editor for the department website. In 2025, she received the Senate Faculty Teaching Excellence Award from the School of Humanities at UC Irvine.

Education

• Ph.D. in Classics, University of California, Irvine, 2017
• M.A. in Classics, University of California, Irvine, 2012
• B.A. in Classics (Greek emphasis), University of California, Irvine, 2008
• B.A. in Studio Art, University of California, Irvine, 2003

Distinctions

• Phi Beta Kappa, 2008
• Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship, UC Irvine, 2008
• Senate Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, School of Humanities, UC Irvine, 2025
• Eta Sigma Phi Honors Society, 2007-2008
• Luci Berkowitz and Theodore Brunner Undergraduate Award in Classics, UC Irvine, 2008
• Classics Graduate Student Fellowship, UC Irvine, 2012