Postgraduate student life

The research culture in Durham’s Department of Classics and Ancient History is world-leading. It provides a wide range of opportunities for postgraduate students to engage with other scholars, collaborate, learn to present their material, and discuss aspects of their own research at a higher level. We host and support many activities that contribute to the Department’s world-leading research culture. These aim to promote research and study not only within the discipline of Classics and Ancient History but also as part of interdisciplinary conversations:

• postgraduate and research students regularly attend our vibrant Research Seminars with distinguished visiting speakers from all over the world (open to the public)
• they also attend regular Work-in-Progress Seminars by members of staff and PhD students. These offer the rare opportunity of seeing research in the making.
• our Department also hosts regular Postgraduate Work in Progress Seminar These are open to postgraduates only and promote peer-observation in a relaxed, intimate and stimulating environment
• The Department also co-organises the activities of five interdepartmental Centres:
  • Centre for the Study of the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East (CAMNE)
  • Durham Centre for Classical Reception (DCCR)
  • Durham Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (DCAMP)
  • Centre for Language and Writing Systems (CLAWS)
  • Durham Centre for Classics Education Research and EngagementS
• As well as talks and workshops, these Centres can offer more regular activities such as reading groups – the Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy has run a very successful one for many years now.
• In addition to ‘official’ events, the departmental community hosts informal activities such as the Homeric reading group, which combines scholarship and conviviality and is therefore a very popular activity.
• Moreover, we host several student-led conferences per year, as well as informal advice sessions about the academic job market and how to apply for postdocs. There is a thriving Classics Students’ Society that hosts its own series of talks (by Durham staff members) and provides a lively, friendly forum for the exchange of ideas.
• Our facilities include a charming, well-stocked departmental library and dedicated computer rooms for taught and research postgraduates. You can view these rooms and more via our virtual tour.

• We run "Glaux" an annual week-long exchange between  doctoral students in Classics and related disciplines at Durham and Heidelberg University, involving presentations of research, masterclasses, and visits to local archaeological sites.