"The week before the start of term is always exciting and nerve-wracking. I am never quite ready for the start of term. There are always just too many jobs. But people are back from the summer and refreshed and it is time to plan big.  

One of my key roles in 2023-24 is to think about the future of research. A big drive at the moment is the internationalisation of research. Although it often seems like our political masters are fighting against international connections and waving the nationalistic flags. We are and should be ever more connected on our fragile planet. We have welcomed Dr Menghzen Yue to the Department for three years to work on projects on Greek history and the reception of Classics in China. And we are anxious to build links into further East Asian communities in Japan, China and South Korea. Fortunately, one of our PhD students, Emily has good links to Korea. She spent the covid year in Korea, which turned out to be one of the safest places to be. And she is anxious to go back. Since we can continue supervision on-line, she is off again to meet the small community of Classics scholars in South Korea. We hope that we can bring some of them back to London.  

Emily had promised us a vlog, Emily in Seoul, a shameless title rip off of Emily in Paris, but with less of fashion focus (probably).  

But thinking about internationalisation, I discovered that the History Department has a link to Yale. Yale just happens to have one the great US Classics libraries as well as an outstanding Classics Department. A few mails later and having identified someone I vaguely know, it looks like we can piggy back on the History Department’s connections and start sending our PhD students for a term to Yale and hopefully get staff and students to come over and return the visits."

Week 2: Pandora’s Box and The Classics Hour on Insanity Radio station - Mia Ince, Masters by Research in Rhetoric

“Hello everyone! My name is Mia Ince, and I am a postgraduate student within the Classics Department here at Royal Holloway. Over the past year and a half, I have also been a radio host at the university’s very own radio station, Insanity Radio, with my show: Pandora’s Box. Every week I have explored a new area of classics, covering anything from ghosts in the ancient world to Disney’s Hercules, and have been lucky enough to have several lecturers guest-star on my show – including professors Liz Gloyn and Richard Hawley.

Although I must admit that I am strongly a Hellenist at heart, through my show I have expanded my knowledge of the ancient world through to Roman literature and politics, as well as Lydian and Persian history and the role of North African myths within the ancient Mediterranean mythographic corpus. The show has given both myself and my listeners the amazing opportunity to learn so much about the world of classics that we might otherwise never have heard of, and with the support of the Classics Department here at Royal Holloway my experience hosting it has been such a privilege of my undergraduate career.

This year, as a postgraduate, I have returned to both the department and the station with a new show: The Classics Hour, which will run every Friday at 1pm from January 12th 2024. Following much the same style as my show last year (which you can listen to at Insanityradio.com/player/), this show will again feature familiar faces from our classics department as we explore new and exciting elements of the ancient world and study of classics, and I invite you to join us on this journey!”

Week 3: Cicero on … writing to your tutors - Dr Liz Gloyn

“I never thought that I’d find myself laughing to the point of tears over one of Cicero’s letters, but that’s what I found myself on doing on Thursday morning! My Latin students and I were translating some of Cicero’s letters – we’ve noticed already that he’s very concerned with the mechanics of sending letters, which makes perfect sense in the ancient world where you can’t always be sure someone will deliver what they’ve said they will – and with people writing back to him very frequently. This observation, in combination with a letter where Cicero is apologising to his wife Terentia for being in a foul mood and explaining it must have been because of the black choler he threw up shortly after he left her, led us to a hilarious exchange about the possibilities of writing to your tutors under the most unlikely of trying circumstances to prove yourself a loyal correspondent. On reflection, I brought it upon myself by recommending my students pay as much attention to their e-mail as Cicero did to his correspondence… but that’s the joy of teaching, you never know what each new class is going to bring.”

Week 4: Classics and Dance - Beth Thomson, 4th year student

“Hi, my name’s Beth and I’ve been a part of Dance Society for 3 years. My favourite style is tap dancing which I’ve done since I was about 9 but I had no training in any other styles when I initially joined the society. Since then, my confidence as a dancer has grown so much and I’ve done things I never thought I could, such as co-choreographing our Advanced Tap competition team last year, which won second place once and first place twice.

This year I’m Events Coordinator on our committee. My job is to organise our showcases where we perform routines that we teach across the term. Our showcase for this term will be happening on December 2nd – please get tickets and come watch!

My passion for dance has led me to write my dissertation on ancient Greek dance. Currently I’m researching how ancient dance is gendered, looking at war dances and dancing in religious cults. One source that’s been helpful is “Dance and ritual play in Greek religion” by Steven H Lonsdale as well as various vases - I’m very excited to see where it takes me!”

Red-figured hydria, depicting a Dancing lesson. Attributed to the Phiale Painter. Athens, date: ca. 430 BC. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Week 5: Our student representative in Seoul, South Korea - Emily Howe, 2nd year PhD student

A couple of weeks ago, one of our PhD students, Emily Howe, arrived in Seoul (South Korea) for her second stint in the city, now as a postgraduate research student. She kindly sent us this report and a photo of herself in traditional Korean dress (Hanbok):

"I was fortunate enough to participate in the Study Abroad scheme during my undergraduate studies, adding a year of study at Korea University in Seoul, before returning to RHUL for my final year. With the freedom to explore other subjects, I got to take classes in Ancient to Modern Chinese, Japanese and Korean history alongside studies in international affairs and Asia-Pacific relations. I was also able to take intensive Korean to fast-track my language learning. Being a part of a different education system taught me new ways of thinking and skills, which have been instrumental throughout my master’s and PhD. It was an incredible opportunity that I highly recommend to any Classics student. My year abroad broadened my horizons to alternative experiences and cultures I wouldn’t have been able to find in London, providing me with a newfound confidence to push myself further. I made life-long friends, returning from my year in Seoul to move in together with some of them in London. Many have since returned to Korea, and I’m pleased to say that I have been able to join them! Since returning, I’ve been busy reconnecting with all our Korean friends and previous lecturers. The department has fully supported me in this as part of my PhD so that I can meet and work with Classics Professors throughout the city to build a London-East Asia network of classicists. It is my long-term goal to strengthen our connection with other global classics departments, to widen the community and broaden the scope of our research.”

Week 6: “City of Athens” trip to Athens: a report and… a video - Madeleine, Emily, Tom, Dominik, James and Gethin, 3rd years

During study week, Prof. Jari Pakannen took out to Athens a student group who are taking his “City of Athens” module this term. The link to the fantastic video they made for us is after the end of the paragraph below.

“We had a fantastic time on this trip, not only was it a great way of solidifying the knowledge we’ve gained in the lectures, but it was such a fun experience. Although we have learned so much about the sites, nothing compares to seeing these artefacts in person and we are very grateful to have had this opportunity to further our classics knowledge. It was a privilege to have other specialists join us at various sites and share their knowledge and works with us. Jari made the trip extra special by recommending us lots of lovely restaurants and places to visit as well as taking us for a welcoming dinner which was one of the highlights of the trip. Not only did we learn about ancient Greek culture but also modern and we enjoyed trying traditional Greek dishes such as Pastitsio and Souvlaki (and Ouzo!). Our favourite activity was hiking to the top of the Pnyx and seeing an incredible view of the city as well as the coast, we ended up going back to the top of the hill a further two times in our free time fuelled by the buzz of endorphins and the gyros in our stomachs! We collectively agree this trip was one of the best weeks of our lives and we enjoyed every moment and have already spoken about going back! We are very thankful to Jari and the classics department for this memorable adventure we went on.”

Follow the link to fantastic video they made on RHUL Classics YouTube channel https://youtu.be/KyDsfERGTQg - and please remember to subscribe to our channel (https://www.youtube.com/@rhulclassics/), if you haven’t already done so!

Week 7: The Vesuvius Project: computer science unlocking the secrets of ancient scrolls - Dr Liz Gloyn

“On social media, you often see classicists answering which three texts they would like to have saved from antiquity that we don’t already have. The answers always tell you a great deal about the person answering; for instance, I would love Agrippina’s Memoirs, Ovid’s Medea, and one of the historical plays that was written in the gap between the Republican comedies and the Senecan tragedies, which is all we have of the vibrant and vigorous genre of Latin comedy. We might have come one small step closer to recovering those lost texts with the recent news that the Vesuvius Project has bestowed its award for discovering the first word on an unopened scroll from Herculaneum to a 21 year old computer science student. The library in Herculaneum is a gold mine of texts and we have absolutely no idea what’s in there – and until now, had no way to get into the carbonised scrolls without totally destroying them in the process. When I was an undergraduate, the view was that putting the scrolls aside until the technology was available to read them was a smart move – which makes it even more remarkable, for me, that we are now living in the future and that technology is, slowly but surely, starting to recapture texts which might otherwise have been lost for ever.”

Week 8: “Dig to Digital” in a teaching lab - Dr Erica Rowan

Dr Erica Rowan, Professor Jari Pakkanen and Dr Zena Kamash, co-teach the second-year archaeology module CL2194 Dig to Digital. Dr Rowan writes about a special session:

“The module always includes a lot of practical components. Last week we took things one step further and the students ventured out of their usual classroom and into the Munro Fox teaching lab for an archaeobotany practical. Students took a look at some ancient and modern seeds down the microscopes, and practiced separating the seeds from the charcoal in samples from the Roman city of Utica in Tunisia.”

Week 9: Summer filming project - Eleanor Atterton (MA Public History) and Maisie-May Gilchrist (MA Classics)

This summer our freshly minted graduates Eleanor Atterton and Maisie-May Gilchrist helped with the production of a Classics-themed documentary and Maisie shares some of their experiences. Maisie writes:

“Eleanor and I worked on a Classics documentary/retelling of the Odyssey over the summer and the first episode was released on Sunday! We were production assistants who were part of a team that flew to Corfu and took part in two amazing weeks filming on gorgeous beaches, in beautiful little towns and Airbnbs. We helped with the filming by holding cameras and lights, standing in for shots to check angles, running around setting up the sets, and being generally useful to everyone. We also had lots of roles behind the filming including driving everyone around, cooking for the crew as well as providing our Classical knowledge when needed (and Eleanor is now a pro at slating each shot). It was very intense with 5am starts in order to fight the heat and shoot for as long as possible, but it was an amazing experience despite the tiredness. The project is called The Odyssey in a Day and splits the story up into three parts - breakfast, lunch and dinner - in order to make Classics interesting and engaging for people (especially for non-Classicists). It was all created and organised by a Classicist friend, Cosi, who wanted to create something to make Classics accessible and fun! But here is the link for anyone interested: https://youtu.be/xzIjB-yGPrk?si=WrwULV3UDj-1h50c”

Week 10: The Classics Society Symposium on “Medicine and Disability in the Ancient World”

On 29 November the Classics Society put on an excellent Symposium that brought together students, undergraduate and postgraduate, alumni and staff. We all enjoyed four high-quality papers about a range of sources on different aspects disability in the Ancient Greek and Roman World. Dr Liz Gloyn offered some useful methodological points and very helpful reminders about different attitudes and perspectives that prevailed in the Roman world. There was quite a lot of laughter too, largely due to Dr Hannah Baldwin who was testing …Humour Theory on the audience! Meanwhile Dr Brady surveyed historiographical references to over-dramatic displays of valour by Roman generals, very often far from the battlefield. We all agreed that this was a fantastic co-curricular event and hope that our indefatigable Classics Society can organise another Symposium in Term 2!

Week 11: A recent Classics Alumna on the National Graduate Development Program - Zoe Norman (BA Classical Studies 2021)

One of our recent alumnae, Zoe Norman (BA Classical Studies 2021) is currently working within drug and alcohol and complex needs commissioning at Cornwall Council. Commissioning includes developing policy, strategy, and designing local services to best support vulnerable people. Zoe was recently interviewed by the Communications Team here at college.

Read her blog article on the College Intranet for top tips and thoughts on why one might want to work in local government: https://intranet.ro yalholloway.ac.uk/students/jobs-careers/careers-blogs/careers-blog-articles/working-in-local-government-and-the-ngdp.aspx

Week 12: A homemade classical reception project - Chris Richmond, 1st year student

Our first-year student, Chris Richmond, explains how he managed to fit Parthenon… into a glass ball:

"Originally the case was for a desk mounted clock, until someone carelessly knocked it off the desk. (I admit nothing.) I removed the centre brass section that held the clock mechanism, took measurements and using a 3d printer replicated the centre section in plastic. If you have never done 3D printing, you probably don’t realise that you can actually print almost any photograph in a single colour. This works by printing the original colours at different thicknesses so when light shines through it the picture is visible due to the the different thickness making some parts darker, simulating grey scale.

Pictures made using this method are called Lithophanes, and this is how I made the Parthenon in a glass ball.”