DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS AND ANCIENT HISTORY
Prospective students
Current students
About the department
Research
About us
Part of the School of Humanities, the Department of Classics and Ancient History ranks among the best in Britain and enjoys an international reputation. It has been highly praised for its innovative approach to the teaching of classics and ancient history, and draws a diverse body of undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Research
The Department is highly rated for its original and cutting-edge research, and it has been awarded a five (international excellence in some sub-areas of activity and national excellence in virtually all others) in all Research Assessment Exercises so far.
The academic staff offer many perspectives on the ancient world, drawing on the insights offered by, for instance, structuralism, Marxism, deconstruction, psychoanalysis and anthropology, and a wide range of specialisms, such as:
- myth and religion
- reception and the classical tradition
- history and historiography
- visual and material culture
- literary and critical theory
- literature
- intellectual history
Teaching
Undergraduate
There are around 220 students following undergraduate courses, including JYA, Erasmus, and overseas students. While studying with us, our students gain experience of the many different methods and approaches involved in the study of classics and ancient history. Each of our various undergraduate degree courses has a set of tailored core units to ensure students are given clear direction on their chosen course. A wide range of optional units complements our core programme and allows students to develop their personal interests further.
Postgraduate
At postgraduate level, the Department offers research degrees and an MA in Classics and Ancient History. Our community is a thriving one of about 30 postgraduates, who receive a high level of individual attention.
Classics postgraduates also have access to the Graduate School of Arts and Humanities: the hub of postgraduate activity across the Faculty of Arts, providing support and study facilities for all our postgraduate students.
Departmental activities
The Department of Classics and Ancient History has a lively community that organises many departmental events as well as being involved in events across the Faculty of Arts.
It is also home to the Bristol Institute for Greece, Rome and the Classical Tradition and the Thucydides Project. It holds an ongoing series of myth conferences, and has been chosen by the publisher Blackwell to collaborate on an annual public lecture series, the Blackwell Lectures in Greece, Rome and the Classical Tradition.
Weekly research seminars, in which papers are given by Bristol staff and students as well as visiting speakers, provoke stimulating and engaged debate. We also host an annual, undergraduate classics conference, which gives our undergraduate community the chance to come together and build on what they have learned throughout the year in an informal context.
Undergraduates in a Classics seminar