This week I’ve been in Milton Keynes for the Classical Studies Associate Lecturer Day. A bunch of intrepid Classics tutors braved the grim Novembry weather on Thursday, coming from all over the UK to congregate in the Open University Library, where there was a twinkly Christmas tree and much cake waiting for us. The Module Teams, including Jess Hughes, Phil Perkins, Naoko Yamagata, E-J Graham, Trevor Fear and Ursula Rothe, talked about modules past, present and future, and a good time was had by all.
It was also a pleasure to see the launch of the website, on Wednesday, for The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion, which promises to be a fascinating project to follow. The Centre is based at the OU’s Department of Classical Studies, and is funded by Baron Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza, a long-standing supporter of Classics (and a great chap to sit next to at a dinner party!). The Centre’s activities have already started with a bang; the website is advertising a fully-funded PhD studentship (if you’ve just finished the MA, do take a look), talks and a workshop, as well as inviting contributions to a themed journal issue on Pompeii. You can follow the Centre’s activities on Twitter @OpenMatRel and Instagram @OpenMaterialReligion.
And finally – I’d like to congratulate Stella Hurtado on her Kassman Essay Prize win, for her essay “Myth – Representing the Past”. Very well deserved, Stella!
This week’s links from around the internet
From Classical Studies Support
Tips for the MA Dissertation – Jack Lambert
Visiting the London Mithraeum – Klara Hegedus
News
Treasures in Lincolnshire – The Guardian
Casts at the V&A – The Evening Standard
Pontius Pilate named on a ring – The New York Times
Returning the Benin Bronzes (remember AA100?) – The Times
Family feud over antiquities – The Telegraph
The first year of Pharos – Pharos
‘The Owl’s Legacy’ – The New York Times
Looking for Dead Sea Scrolls – Live Science
The sunken port of Olbia – Phys.org
Upcoming classical events – Classical Association Newsletter
New insights into Rome – Eurekalert
Drinking on Hadrian’s Wall – Chronicle Live
Roman tombs in Turkey – Daily Sabah
Comment and opinion
Games, comics and animations – Panoply
Skulls and dolls – Mistaking Histories
Descended from Adam and Eve? – Forbes
In defence of Ares – The Athenian Inspector
The challenge of diversifying Latin – Society for Classical Studies
Solution and absolution – Eidolon
Socrates and courtesans – Donald Robertson
Classics and Gandhara – LSA Classics
Experimenting with styli – CREWS Project
Greek and Roman Neopaganism – Classical Wisdom Weekly
A tyrant in one’s own sphere – Sententiae Antiquae
Roman law and revenge porn – The Scotsman
Drawing the shape of history – The New York Times
Christians and Romans – The Daily Beast
Consuls in the Republic – History Hit
Classicist Christmas gifts – Eidolon
Music for the Minotaur – Sententiae Antiquae
How texts functioned – Larry Hurtado’s Blog
Ancient slavery and American history – Society for Classical Studies
Brunching etymology – Sententiae Antiquae
Roman eating – Eagles and Dragons
Armless sculpture – My Modern Met
Ancient engineers – Interesting Engineering
Videos, podcasts and other media
The myth of Sisyphus – TED-Ed
Greg Woolf talks about ancient history – Coffee and Circuses
What is Classics anyway? – Ask a Classicist
Homer and the start of Classics – AIQ Podcast
Classics on the internet – Itinera
Shamans and Amazons – The Endless Knot
Hegel, Plutarch and Herodotus – British School at Athens
Cambridge Latin Course quiz – The Tab
Classical Studies Support 