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Department of Classics and Ancient History

We are one of the top Departments in Classics internationally, with a diverse and exciting intellectual community.
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About the Department of Classics and Ancient History

Our Durham Department of Classics & Ancient History is a large and successful department. We consistently rank as one of the top Classics and Ancient History Departments in the UK for research and teaching, and came 9th in the 2025 QS World University Rankings.

Our degrees offer both academic rigour and an outstanding student experience. We are regularly among the top Classics departments in the UK for graduate employability. In 2019 we were awarded an Advance HE Athena Swan Bronze Award. This marks our ongoing commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusiveness. We are proud that our Department is highly international, forward-looking, and in many ways genuinely diverse in its makeup and outlook.

Find out more about our department
4th
4th The Complete University Guide 2026
4th in the UK for overall research quality in REF 2021
9th in the World
9th in the World in the 2025 QS World University Rankings by Subject
3rd in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025

Study with us

We offer undergraduate students three Single Honours programmes - Classics, Classical Civilisation, and Ancient History - and two Joint Honours programmes with the Departments of History and Archaeology.

As a centre of world-class research, we have a strong commitment to postgraduate provision for MA and PhD students in all areas of Classics & Ancient History

Undergraduate Study

Our undergraduate programmes offer students a very wide range of modules, designed to emphasise the unity as well as the exciting variety of Greek and Roman antiquity.
Female Classics professor and students looking at books

Postgraduate study

We welcome applications to the Taught MA programme, or applications for research MAs and PhDs in any of the (many) research specialities represented in the Department.


 

Student satisfaction

Our Department recorded an outstanding 90.7% overall student satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2021.

We are distinctive in our commitment to training in the Classical languages. Our language modules develop the skills of those with previous experience, and enable students with no prior training to take up Latin and Greek at all levels.
Find out more about our undergraduate courses
Four students sit at a table in a library with an open laptop, looking at each other and laughing

 

Our research

  • Explore our research centres

    Our research centres bring together scholars across the university working on classical reception, the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, ancient and medieval philosophy, and ancient languages and writing systems.

    Outdoor shot of Classics and Ancient History building

  • Impact case studies

    Discover the impact our research is making

    Museum display board reading

Explore our research centres

Our research centres bring together scholars across the university working on classical reception, the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, ancient and medieval philosophy, and ancient languages and writing systems.

Outdoor shot of Classics and Ancient History building

Impact case studies

Discover the impact our research is making

Museum display board reading

  • Research environment

    In the REF2021 evaluation of research quality, our Department was ranked joint fourth in the UK. Find out more about our departmental research environment

  • Research areas

    Explore selected areas of research within the Department, from Latin poetry to digital humanities

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Research environment

In the REF2021 evaluation of research quality, our Department was ranked joint fourth in the UK. Find out more about our departmental research environment

Research areas

Explore selected areas of research within the Department, from Latin poetry to digital humanities

Programming code and matrix image
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Watch our most recent research video

Dr Mara Nicosia talks about her research into Syriac rhetoric in "Antony of Tagrit: a detective story"

More research videos
Members of staff from Department of Classics and Ancient History

Our staff

Our academic staff specialise in a broad range of artistic, historical, literary, linguistic, cultural, and philosophical aspects of the Graeco-Roman world. We have further expertise in the wider Ancient Mediterranean and Near East.

Find out more

Explore our department

  • Alumni

    Find out about our alumni benefits, and keep in touch!

    Group photo of the Classics Society at Hadrian's Wall

  • Facilities

    Find out about our departmental library and computer rooms

    Classics students leaning at shelf of Classics library reading a book

Alumni

Find out about our alumni benefits, and keep in touch!

Group photo of the Classics Society at Hadrian's Wall

Facilities

Find out about our departmental library and computer rooms

Classics students leaning at shelf of Classics library reading a book

EDI initiatives

Find out about our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives

Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace

Postgraduate funding

Find out about PhD funding opportunities

Two students talking in the library with laptops

What's new?

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Spotlight on: Dr Katherine McDonald – understanding the ancient world through language

The languages of the past can tell us more about human history than we might have thought. As a specialist in the ancient languages of Italy, Katherine McDonald uses linguistic detective work to uncover what life was like over 2,000 years ago.

Global research
Dr Katherine McDonald smiling and facing the camera whilst sat in an outdoor setting

Faculty of Arts and Humanities Earns Prestigious Athena Swan Silver Award

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities has been awarded a highly regarded Athena Swan Silver Award, becoming only the second faculty of its kind in the UK to receive this distinction. This milestone acknowledges the significant progress made in advancing gender equality across all departments and highlights a firm commitment to continued improvement through to 2030.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
Group picture with Executive Dean Janet Stewart and Deputy Executive Dean (People and Workplace Culture) Alexandra Harrington.

Spotlight on: Professor Edith Hall – leading the campaign for Classics education for all

Our ‘Spotlight on’ series showcases the world-leading work of our academics. Professor Edith Hall is passionate about the lessons we can learn from ancient civilisations and is leading a campaign to put Classics education back on the UK curriculum.
Global research
Professor Edith Hall outside in the sunshine, with a cat in the background

Congratulations to Dr Katherine McDonald - Philip Leverhulme Prize winner 2024

Dr Katherine McDonald wins prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize for 2024 with her project 'The Linguistics of Roman Slavery'. Photo credit Dr Christopher Haddad
Research news

Transformative Humanities framework launched

Durham University's Transformative Humanities launched yesterday and gathered more than 130 researchers, colleagues, students, and partners from across the region and beyond to celebrate this new interdisciplinary framework.
Research news
Transformative Humanities launch news banner

Landmark Syriac Studies conference brings international research excellence to UK

A landmark conference about Syriac Studies brought more than 70 researchers from 20 countries to Durham last month. The event was a hub for academic collaboration and knowledge sharing. It was also a formative experience for early-career scholars. Here, the organisers reflect on the key highlights of the conference and why there has recently been a major revival of academic interest in Syriac Studies.
Durham news
A group photo taken at the Syriac Studies in the UK conference

New Durham Prize in Classical Reception 2024 Announced

The Durham University Department of Classics & Ancient History, together with the Durham Centre for Classical Reception, invites submissions for its first annual international prize for a doctoral thesis in Classical Reception Studies, broadly defined.
Research news
Renaissance artwork of a roman reception
More news

QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025

We are ranked 9th in the prestigious QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025.

QS rankings 2025

Classics at Durham: ancient connections and a bright future

Our region’s long and rich classical history is inspiring the next generation of classics students. North East England’s ancient structures and settlements including Hadrian’s Wall have inspired many through the ages.  
View from below of the side of a replica ancient Greek temple, with seven columns built of dark stone supporting a plain entablature

Landmark Syriac Studies conference brings international research excellence to UK

A landmark conference about Syriac Studies brought more than 70 researchers from 20 countries to Durham last month. The event was a hub for academic collaboration and knowledge sharing. It was also a formative experience for early-career scholars. Here, the organisers reflect on the key highlights of the conference and why there has recently been a major revival of academic interest in Syriac Studies.
A group photo taken at the Syriac Studies in the UK conference

Congratulations to Dr Katherine McDonald - Philip Leverhulme Prize winner 2024

Dr Katherine McDonald wins prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize for 2024 with her project 'The Linguistics of Roman Slavery'. Photo credit Dr Christopher Haddad

Northern Bridge Applications 2025

The Department of Classics & Ancient History at Durham invites applications from UK and international applicants for PhD studentships through the AHRC-funded Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership.
Classics students looking at books

Conference: Lucan’s Landscapes and Lies, 24-26 July 2024

We are pleased to announce the upcoming schedule (see below) for the Lucan’s Landscapes and Lies conference at Durham University, 24th-26th July 2024. The conference is generously supported by the Durham University Researcher Development Grant.
Lucan's Landscape and Lies. 24th-26th July 2024, Department of Classics & Ancient History. Organisers: James Oakley & Liam Preston. With thanks to the generous support of the university's Researcher Development Grant.

  • Classics Teacher Training returns to Durham!

    After several decades, teacher training in Classics is now available once again at Durham thanks to a partnership between the School of Education and the Department of Classics and Ancient History.
    Student news
    School of Education Building

Classics Teacher Training returns to Durham!

After several decades, teacher training in Classics is now available once again at Durham thanks to a partnership between the School of Education and the Department of Classics and Ancient History.

School of Education Building

Student blogs and social media

Explore our Durham University Classics Society blog, packed full of interesting classical and classically-inspired articles.

Highlights

Entrances to Ancient Literature

Francesca Chaplin takes a look at gates and doors in five pieces of ancient literature, from epic to elegy and from the devastating to the comical.
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Penshaw Monument: Durham’s very own Greek temple, and why it’s worth a visit

James Hua pays a visit to the North-East's own Greek temple
The Penshaw monument: a 19th-century recreation of a Greek temple

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Durham University

Get in touch

To find out more about our department and courses, contact us using the information below.

Department of Classics and Ancient History

38 North Bailey
Durham
DH1 3EU

+44 (0)191 3343170

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