C&AS News and Events
2010 student bursaries for Classical & Archaeological Studies students at Kent
Thanks to the high percentage of students who completed the National Student Survey in 2008-9, in which we came 1st for Archaeology and 11th for Classics, money is available for travel bursaries for current undergraduate students. The bursaries will be awarded for the following:
- Trips to ancient sites
- Attendance at Greek or Latin language schools
- Travel to conferences or conference fees
- Other relevant activities to do with the study of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology
(Please note that participation in fieldwork is not included as separate bursaries are available for this)
All bursaries will be awarded on a competitive basis and will be judged by a panel of FT academic staff.
To apply:
Write a short proposal explaining for what purpose you intend to use the bursary and outlining your expenditure. Submit your proposal to by March 12. Successful students will be expected to write a short account of their trip which can be placed on the C&AS web site.
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New Professor of Roman History and Archaeology
We would like to extend a warm welcome to Dr Ray Laurence, who is joining us in April 2010 as Professor of Roman History and Archaeology and Head of Classical & Archaeological Studies.
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Public Lecture, by Dr Dries Tys, Open to All
6.00pm, Thursday 15th October
Dr Dries Tys of the Free University of Brussels will give a paper
entitled:
'Seen and Unseen: Maritime Societies and their Hinterland Relations and
the Origin of Antwerp and Bruges, between the 7th and 12th centuries.'
Dr Tys will examine archaeology in the towns and countryside, landscape
and power relations.
The Lecture will be held in Darwin Lecture Theatre 1 at The University
of Kent's Canterbury Campus.
Following questions there will be a Reception with free drinks in the
Darwin SCR, open to those attending the Lecture.
This is the 4th Annual Archaeology of the Transmanche Lecture.
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Excellent NSS results for the third year in row for C&AS!
We are delighted to announce that Classical & Archaeological Studies at Kent came 1st for Archaeology and 11th for Classics in the National Student Survey 2009, with 97% overall satisfaction for archaeology and 92% for Classics.
It is clear from these results that our students hold C&AS teaching and teachers in the highest regard, with all our modules being popular. The staff of C&AS would like to extend a thank you to all our students for their support.
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£1,000 scholarships for 2009 graduates
To celebrate the launch of the Graduate School, the University of Kent has established a scholarship fund for its 2009 Graduates; the scholarship is available to all 2009 graduates who have earned a Bachelors degree with honours (or undergraduate Masters degree) and register for a postgraduate degree at Kent in the 2009/10 academic year.
There is no need to make a separate application. The funding will be provided to all 2009 graduates on registration.
The University has made considerable investments in postgraduate studies in recent years and this is set to continue following the launch of its new Graduate School. The Graduate School is responsible for the strategic development of graduate education and research within the University.
Click here for more information
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British Academy Small Research Grant for Dr. Efrosyni Boutsikas
Congratulations to Dr. Efrosyni Boutsikas for her successful application to the British Academy for funding to undertake research on “Ancient Greek Mystery Cults”.
Click for more information on her project.
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Visualising Late Antiquity Workshop 1: Law Courts in Late Antiquity
A one day workshop of the Universities of Kent and London (King’s College) to be held at King’s College, London on Saturday 6th June.
Programme
11.00-11.30 Luke Lavan (Kent) Reconstructing Everyday Life in Late Antiquity: Potential and Problems
11.40-12.40 Luke Lavan (Kent) Visiting the Courts in Late Antiquity: An Overview
14.00-14.40 Sebastian Rascon (Madrid) A Law Court at Complutum: A Virtual Reality Approach
14.40-15.20 Caroline Lawrence A Law Court at Ostia: Acting a ‘Roman Mysteries’ scene for the BBC
Break
16.00-16.30 Jon Conyard (Comitatus) Dressing for Court in Late Antiquity: Experiments in Replica Reconstruction
16.30-17.00 Caroline Humfress (Birkbeck) Respondant
17.00-17.30 Discussion
Room details: Council Room (K2.29), near the chapel, on the first floor of King’s (Strand Campus), the Strand, London, WC2R 2LS.
Entrance is free, though places are limited. To reserve a place please email Michael Mulryan on info[AT]lateantiquearchaeology.com.
Location details: www.kcl.ac.uk/about/campuses/strand-det.html. Temple Tube station is closest. For flights try www.skyscanner.net.
Cheap UK train tickets can be obtained in advance from www.thetrainline.com. Direct trains from Canterbury West on Saturday morning leave at 8.35 or 9.06 and arrive 10.00 and 10.36 respectively, at Charing Cross. The best direct train from Oxford leaves at 9.01, and arrives at 9.59 Paddington. Ask for GroupSave4 tickets to allow four people to travel for the price of two.
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Three CLAS students awarded small grants.
Harriet Gemmel has won a £500 grant from the British Institute in Ankara to examine late antique shops in the ancient cities of Western Asia Minor.This will greatly assist her undergraduate dissertation on "Late Antique
Shops: Aspects of Architectural Design".
MA student, Joe Williams, has received a conference grant from SECL to attend the postgraduate archaeology conference "Living in the Past: Living Conditions Through Time and Space" at Oxford on 28th and 29th March.
Postgraduate student, Andy Crane, has received a travel grant of £550 from the Classical Association of Western Canada to present a paper at their conference entitled "Violence in Greek and Roman Antiquity" in March. In addition, Andy has received another grant of between £250 - £300 for attending and presenting a paper at the joint Classical Association and Scottish Classical Association conference in April.
Well done to you all!
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Dr. Arthur Keaveney has been awarded a Margo Tytus Visiting Fellowship by the Department of Classics at the University of Cincinnati for the period March-June 2010.
Congratulations, Arthur!
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Late Antique Archaeology 2009: Late Antique Finds, Excavation and Analysis.
Saturday 7th March, 2009 - London.
A joint conference of the University of Kent and King's College, London, to be held at the Safra lecture theatre, KCL Strand Campus.
The study of late antique artefacts is no longer limited to silver plate and pilgrim tokens. Yet on many sites, finds are still excavated without thought for the information that they ultimately provide. Rich destruction deposits are excavated to a 'one size fits all' method, and finds are often studied only when digs have finished. Sadly, specialists are often kept out of trenches, despite the insights they can provide from finds in deposits actually under excavation. So do we simply collect finds?, or is there information, particular to each object type, and to late antique deposits, that needs to be recorded in order to study them properly? This meeting will examine the methods appropriate to the recovery and analysis of late antique finds, focusing especially on problems specific to the period and on new discoveries.
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Classical & Archaeological Studies RAE Results
The RAE panel has categorised 75% of our research as internationally recognised or better, with some of outstanding quality.
The RAE identified the research environment of Classical & Archaeological Studies at Kent as good and acknowledged the development of our research, conference organisation and increasing postgraduate provision. This is consistent with the expansion of the subject at Kent from 2004 onwards.
University of Kent's Ideas Factory Award
Dr Adam Bartley, from Classical & Archaeological Studies, Kent, has been awarded £4800 by the University of Kent's Ideas Factory. This money will fund the initial stages of the development of audio teaching materials for Ancient Greek and Latin, with a target audience of university, private and senior school students of ancient languages.
British Academy Small Research Grant for Csaba La'da
Congratulations to Csaba La'da (CLAS) for having just secured a British Academy Small Research Grant of £4000 to undertake research on a project entitled "Greeks, Jews and Egyptians: An Alphabetically Arranged Tax List of a Multi-Cultural Village in Ptolemaic Egypt (P.Vindob. G60514-60518)".
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One day workshop - Redefining Disability in the Ancient World
Previous studies of disability in the Greco-Roman, Byzantine and Medieval periods have focused on questioning what types of disabilities were common in the past and how those identified as disabled were treated. Yet, these interpretations of the subject are based on modern classifications and diagnoses of bodily and mental differences, which has led to many assumptions about the disabled. The assumption that disability was defined in the same manner in the past as in the present requires critical assessment that questions, not only how disability was understood, but even if using the term disabled to describe mental and physical difference is incorrect in certain instances.
This one day workshop, organised by Dr. Patty Baker (Kent) and Dr. Sarah Francis (Leeds), brings together scholars of classical and late antique/Byzantine literature, archaeology and paleopathology to discuss how the term disability should be used and defined amongst these different fields of scholarship.
Saturday, 24th January 2009, at the University of Leeds
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New Staff, starting January 2009!
The University has created two new posts, expanding the Classical and Archaeological Studies Section at Kent.
From January we are joined by :
Dr Efrosyni Boutsikas, Lecturer, with expertise in Greek archaeology.
Lloyd Bosworth, Technician, with particular expertise in geophysical survey.
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Distinguished Lecture, Wednesday, 28th January, 5.15 p.m.
Dr Dorothy Thompson: 'Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt'
Dr Thompson of Girton College, Cambridge, will deliver this talk in the SECL Distinguished Lecture series. Dr Thompson is a world expert on Hellenistic Egypt and papyrology, a Fellow of the British Academy, former President of the Association Internationale de Papyrologues and an outstanding speaker. Her paper will be based on the latest results of research into the late Ptolemaic period. The lecture will be followed by drinks and dinner.
Lecture Venue: Marlowe Building, Lecture Theatre 1
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UCAS Visit Days for prospective Students, applying to Classical and Archaeological Studies, to start in 2009.
The first Visit Day to the University and to meet Classics and Archaeology staff takes place on Wednesday, 17th December.
Further Visit Days take place through early 2009 on Wednesdays.
Schedule for UCAS Visit Days 2008/9:
(Wednesday 17 December)))Wednesday 28 Jananuary
Wednesday 11 February
Wednesday 25 February
Wednesday 11 March
Wednesday 25 March
Wednesday 8 April
Click here for more information »