August 2015

Welcome to the August issue of the Classical Association's e-newsletter

As the start of the new academic year approaches, there are plenty of events in the calendar over the coming months for students and teachers of Classics and all those with an interest in the classical world.

The Globe Theatre's production of The Oresteia, adapted by Rory Mullarkey, opens on 29 August and will run until October.  Meanwhile the Almeida Greeks Festival continues into the autumn with Bakkhai running until 19 September and Medea from 25 September - 14 November.  The Almeida's own production of Oresteia, following its sell-out run, has transferred to Trafalgar Studio One where it will run until November.  

Ancient Greece and Rome go head-to-head, not only in the much-anticipated Classics for All event featuring Boris Johnson and Mary Beard on 19 November (already sold-out), but prior to that in a debate between Harry Eyres and Harry Mount, hosted by the Bloomsbury Institute on 14 October and chaired by Armand D'Angour.

The 2015 Whitehead Lecture, Thermopylae: Herodotus vs. the Legend by Professor Hans van Wees (UCL) will take place on 21 October and is jointly hosted by the CA's Manchester branch and Manchester Metropolitan University.  Meanwhile on 20 November a panel of experts will discuss Victorian Visions of Classical Greece and Rome in the Cast Gallery at the Museum of Classical Archaeology in Cambridge. 

Outreach events taking place this autumn will include study days for GCSE and AS level students at the Faculty of Classics at Cambridge, and an Open Day hosted by the Faculty of Classics at Oxford on 18 September for those interested in applying for undergraduate courses. The second CA-sponsored INSET day will take place at Leeds in November on 'The History of Ancient Greece and its Teaching'. Attendance is free and a small number of travel bursaries are available.  Teachers of Classics may also wish to note the date of the next ARLT Refresher Day on 5 March 2016 at UCL, for which preliminary details are available. 

The deadline for bookings and bursary applications for the second Classics in Communities conference, 'Access to Classics in Schools and Communities', on 19 September has been extended to Friday 4 September (bursary funding from the CA means that admission is free to PGCE students, postgraduate students and school teachers). 

The CA also continues to award grants to assist with the costs of postgraduate attendance (fees, subsistence etc.) at a range of small conferences and workshops on classical themes, as well providing funding for larger conferences (100+ in attendance). See the CA website for details.

Looking ahead to the new year, the East Oxford Community Classics Centre plans to host a Festival of Lost Cities on 18 January, open to all ages and with a variety of activities and events.  Broadcasters, presenters and authors including Dr Michael Scott, Natalie Haynes, Martha Kearney and Bettany Hughes will be giving talks at this celebration of the great classical cities (booking required for the talks).

Meanwhile teachers or university lecturers proposing a study trip to the Bay of Naples and the surrounding area may be interested in the facilities offered by the Vergilian Society's Study Center based at the Villa Vergiliana.

Don't forget to check out what's happening at your local CA branch too.  There are a variety of events and activities planned for 2015 - 2016, including lecture programmes, seminars, play readings, excursions and Latin and Greek reading groups.  A number of branches are also involved in outreach activities involving the local community, such as Latin reading competitions for schoolchildren and language teaching clubs offering Latin and Greek to pupils whose schools do not teach classical languages.  Full details are available from local branch representatives whose contact details are on the CA website.