Teacher’s Event at the Faculty of Classics

3 July 2021

The field of Classics defines itself broadly as covering (a) the ancient Greek and Latin languages; (b) the ancient Greek and Roman cultures in all their variety (art and architecture, language and literature, philosophy, politics and thought etc.) and, increasingly, their interactions with other cultures across the ancient Mediterranean and the Near East; (c) the reflexes, repercussions, engagements and influences of the ancient world in post-classical times, from late antiquity to the present day (‘classical receptions’/ ‘classical tradition’).

This third dimension of Classics – Classics Beyond Antiquity – brings the field into direct contact with other disciplines, such as Art, English, History, or Religious Studies. But it has only an insignificant presence in the way the ancient world is currently being taught in schools, across the Key Stages and AS/A-Level. We feel this is a missed opportunity for all involved! Classical presences in post-classical times are ideally suited to foster creative thinking across the curriculum.

To help promote the teaching of ‘classics beyond antiquity’ in schools, the Faculty of Classics at the University of Cambridge is running an exploratory workshop over zoom on Saturday, 3 July 2021, which is addressed to anyone interested in antiquity’s ‘afterlife’ and how we might forge links between Classics and other subject areas. We hope that participants will have different subject backgrounds, such as Art, English, History, Religious Studies, as well as Classics. And we are as keen to advocate this aspect of Classics as we are to listen and learn how best to embed it in schools.

To sign up please fill in this form. 

If you have any questions about the day please contact us at access@classics.cam.ac.uk 

Programme:

10:00–10:15: Welcome and Introduction – Frisbee Sheffield

10:15–11:15: Classics beyond Antiquity: Greek and Roman ‘presences’ in other disciplines, with examples across the Key Stages and A-Level – Ingo Gildenhard 

11:30–12:30: Loving and Desiring in a Classical Key: ancient experiences and modern norms – Frisbee Sheffield

Lunch Break

14:00–15:00: Invited Teacher Presentations of Case Studies

15:15–16:15: Classical Presences in Shakespeare – and how to teach them – Ingo Gildenhard

16:15–17:00: Concluding discussion – where to go from here?

You can view information about the programme as a pdf file here.