Edinburgh Classics Outreach

Classics should be for everyone. We are keen to break down the barriers to entry into Classics, and to share our passion for the subject with learners from all backgrounds. We want to see more Classics in Scottish schools, and we support organisations that are pushing for change.

Here is a selection of the outreach projects we are involved in, with some examples of recent talks. Please contact us if you would like us to give a talk for your school, summer school, teacher training or other event. We are particularly interested in hearing from state schools and learners from widening participation backgrounds.

Classical Association of Scotland

Alex Imrie is Classics Outreach Co-ordinator for Scotland and is at the forefront of the CAS’s drive to promote Classics in Scottish schools.

In July 2021 Edinburgh staff and students (Alex Imrie, Beneditk Eckhardt, Juan Lewis, Calum Maciver, Manos Tsakiris, and Laura Donati) contributed to the CAS Ancient Languages Summer School, which was attended by almost 100 students from across the globe.

Edinburgh and South East Centre of the Classical Association of Scotland

The local branch of the CAS is composed of academics from the University of Edinburgh and Classicists from local schools. It has an active annual programme of talks.

Sutton Trust

We are involved with the Sutton Trust, a charity that works with secondary school pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Our staff give talks for the Sutton Trust summer school.

Widening Participation Early Years Project

This project is for Edinburgh city primary school pupils who feed into secondary schools with the lowest progression rate to higher education. It normalises and contextualises higher education via school and campus based classes.

In December 2022 Calum Maciver delivered two P7 workshops on the ancient Greek alphabet. By the end of a session, pupils could write their name in Greek and even solve a Christmas puzzle written in Greek!

Academus

Academus is a non-profit organisation dedicated to widening participation and making the study of Classics and the Ancient World more accessible. Their courses are free of charge.

David Lewis gave a lecture on 'Work and democracy in Classical Athens' to the Academus Summer School in August 2021.

Scottish Hellenic Society

The Edinburgh branch of the Scottish Hellenic Society has an active annual programme of lectures and events, organised by staff in Classics.

In April 2022 David Lewis organised a 'Greek Day' a public event with talks by Foteini Spingou (Edinburgh), Roel Konijnendijk (Edinburgh), Foteini Dimirouli (Oxford), and Edith Hall (Durham). 

Our staff are also involved with other branches of the SHS: David Lewis gave a talk on 'The Cretan way of war' for the Scottish Hellenic Society of Glasgow in November 2022.

Literacy through Latin

Literacy through Latin was started in 2015 by Aaron Pelttari in collaboration with the Iris Project. He coordinated the program for three years during which time student volunteers taught in 14 different P6 classrooms in 4 different Edinburgh Council primary schools.

In 2018, Aaron handed off the program to be run by inspiring students of Edinburgh University’s Classics Society.

Network for Working-Class Classicists

In 2021 Mirko Canevaro and Lilah Grace Canevaro founded the Network for Working-Class Classicists.

The aim of the Network is to provide solidarity and support for classicists coming from working-class backgrounds, to advocate for class inclusion in our discipline, and to gather data about class demographics in UK Classics.

Talks for schools, societies and CPD events

With the wide range of expertise across our staff, Edinburgh Classics can offer school and society talks on ancient history, classical archaeology, literature and more – please get in touch if you would like us to talk to your pupils.

We can also offer CPD talks for teachers who currently teach Classics or would like to in the future!

Here are some examples of recent talks:

• David Lewis gave a talk on 'The ancient Greek slave trade and the invention of the barbarian’ for Elliott Hudson College in Leeds (July 2022). 
• Lilah Grace Canevaro gave a talk about Classics for the ‘Destinations Day’ at Elliott Hudson College, Leeds (November 2021).
• Lilah Grace Canevaro gave a talk on women in Homer to the Classics Society at Latymer Upper School, London, to which local state schools were also invited (November 2021).
• David Lewis gave an online talk in the 'Sparta - Live!' series co-hosted by the Nottingham Centre for Spartan and Peloponnesian Studies and the Mayor of Sparti, Greece, entitled 'Adapting slavery to Spartan society' (March 2021).
• Jenny Shearer (fourth-year MA in Classical Studies) led an outreach session on Hellenistic coinage via Zoom; attendees included a number of Edinburgh students, access students from the University of Glasgow, A-level pupils from across England, and others from France, Ireland, China, and the USA (January 2021).
• Benedikt Eckhardt gave a lecture for school teachers on Jewish History in the Roman Empire (January 2021), as part of a programme entitled '1700 Jahre Quellen aus der deutsch-jüdischen Geschichte'.
• Kimberley Czajkowski spoke to the Anglo Israel Archaeological Society on ‘Re-approaching the Babatha Archive’ (November 2020).
• Ben Russell spoke to students at the Royal High School in Edinburgh on the topic of Roman archaeology (February 2020).

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Contacts

Please contact our Classics Outreach Officer, Lilah Grace Canevaro, if you have any questions, would like to arrange a talk for your school or other venue, or have other outreach ideas you wish to share.