Ancient History and Archaeology are both concerned with understanding social, political and cultural experience in the past. This course offers students the opportunity to range across these two broad disciplines. Students will study the Greek and Roman worlds by working with historical and literary documents alongside the material remains of ancient sites and artefacts. All material is studied in translation and no knowledge of Greek or Latin is required, but there are opportunities to take introductory modules in the languages.

Religion plays a significant role in diverse cultural, social and political contexts. Religious world-views, values and symbols play a critical role in shaping cultural norms, traditions and practices. This is the case both in religiously plural contexts, as well as those dominated by particular traditions. The contours of religion are evident not only in the artefacts that transmit a culture’s heritage (such as architecture, visual arts, illuminated manuscripts, literature, etc.), but also in contemporary debates about the evolving identities of societies in a world characterized by religious pluralism.

Students on this course will be engaged with contemporary debates about, for example, the nature and impact of political religion, religion and modernity, religion and gender, religion and violence, religion and human rights, and ethics in politics.