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Department of Classics and Ancient History

Postgraduate student life

The research culture in Durham’s Department of Classics and Ancient History is world-leading. It provides a wide range of opportunities for postgraduate students to engage with other scholars, collaborate, learn to present their material, and discuss aspects of their own research at a higher level. We host and support many activities that contribute to the Department’s world-leading research culture. These aim to promote research and study not only within the discipline of Classics and Ancient History but also as part of interdisciplinary conversations:

  • postgraduate and research students regularly attend our vibrant Research Seminars with distinguished visiting speakers from all over the world (open to the public)
  • they also attend regular Work-in-Progress Seminars by members of staff and PhD students. These offer the rare opportunity of seeing research in the making.
  • our Department also hosts regular Postgraduate Work in Progress Seminar These are open to postgraduates only and promote peer-observation in a relaxed, intimate and stimulating environment
  • the Department is home to the Centre for Language and Writing Systems (CLAWS). This newly founded Centre hosts talks and research activities designed to broaden the horizons of classicists well beyond the boundaries of Greece and Rome
  • The Department also co-organises the activities of as many as three interdepartmental Centres:
  • As well as talks and workshops, these Centres can offer more regular activities such as reading groups – the Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy has run a very successful one for many years now.
  • In addition to ‘official’ events, the departmental community hosts informal activities such as the Homeric reading group, which combines scholarship and conviviality and is therefore a very popular activity.
  • Moreover, we host several student-led conferences per year, as well as informal advice sessions about the academic job market and how to apply for postdocs. There is a thriving Classics Students’ Society that hosts its own series of talks (by Durham staff members) and provides a lively, friendly forum for the exchange of ideas. Our facilities include a charming, well-stocked departmental library and dedicated computer rooms for taught and research postgraduates.