Classics and Ancient History

Page contents

• Programme overview
• Entry requirements
• Staff research interests

Programme overview

The Department of Classics and Ancient History ranks among the best in Britain and has an international reputation for outstanding and innovative research. It is particularly well known for reception studies, which it pioneered in Britain. As a research student you will be a member of a thriving and dynamic community.

Research groups

The Department has several research foci: Myth, Historiography, Greek and Latin Literature, Visual Culture, and Reception. A special resource is the Bristol Institute of Greece, Rome and the Classical Tradition, which provides a focus for collaborative and interdisciplinary work and support for conferences and other research activities. Directed by the Department, the Institute encompasses research from many fields, including history, art history, archaeology, literary studies and philosophy, with a particular interest in exploring links between the ancient and modern worlds.

Individual members of staff are involved with research groups across the Faculty such as Medieval Studies and Early Modern Studies. A major AHRC-funded research project, `Thucydides: Reception, Reinterpretation, Influence', is housed in the Department.

All new research students attend the Theories and Approaches unit and the weekly departmental seminar.

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Entry requirements

MPhil: An upper second-class honours degree (or international equivalent). MLitt/PhD: A pass at MA level (or international equivalent).

For information on international equivalent qualifications, please see our International Office website.

Admissions statement

Read the programme admissions statement for important information on entry requirements, the application process and supporting documents required.

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Key research interests

Professor Richard Buxton, Greek literature especially tragedy; mythology and religion.

Professor Robert Fowler, Greek literature, especially Homer, lyric poetry and historiography; Greek mythographers; history of scholarship; textual criticism.

Dr Shelley Hales, Ancient art and its reception; Roman cultural history; Roman provincial identities; reception of Pompeii.

Dr Laura Jansen, Latin literature; Republican and Imperial culture and philosophy; paratextuality and reception.

Dr Silke Knippschild, Greek and Ancient Near Eastern history and visual culture; classical reception.

Dr Kurt Lampe, Ancient philosophy; Greek poetry; reception of classical antiquity; modern philosophy and critical theory (especially existentialism and psychoanalysis).

Dr Genevieve Liveley, Augustan literature; critical theory; the classical tradition; gender theory; narratology.

Dr Pantelis Michelakis, Greek literature and theatre, especially tragedy, and their reception.

Dr Nicoletta Momigliano, Aegean prehistory, classical reception.

Professor Neville Morley, Ancient social and economic history; historiography (especially Thucydides); modern reception of antiquity.

Dr Ellen O'Gorman, Augustan and post-Augustan poetry and prose; historiography; theories of ideology and reading, especially psychoanalysis.

Dr Isabella Sandwell, Late antiquity; Roman religion; early Christianity.

Dr Ika Willis, Reception and cultural studies; Penguin Archive Project

Dr Vanda Zajko, The reception of classical myth and literature, particularly in the 20th century; psychoanalysis; feminist theory.

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