CUCD pedagogical grant report 2022-23 A programme of workshops for the Joseph Cowen Lifelong Learning Centre using Newcastle University’s Shefton Collection, June 2023 Organizers: Dr Sally Waite (sally.waite@newcastle.ac.uk) and Dr Emma Gooch (emma.gooch@newcastle.ac.uk) ‘The Other in Ancient Greece’ The project developed and delivered a programme of workshops to members of the Joseph Cowen Lifelong Learning… Read More Objects and Experience: Engaging with the Shefton Collection in the 21st century

CUCD pedagogical grant report 2022-23 University of Lincoln Conference May 15th 2023, Organisers: Jamie Wood (jwood@lincoln.ac.uk) and Michael Wuk (mwuk@lincoln.ac.uk) Reading in education is ubiquitous, is relevant to all disciplines, and has undergone a transformation over the past twenty years. However, student experiences of learning-through-reading are under-researched and -theorised. In particular, we know strikingly little… Read More Reading Classics Online: Past Pedagogies, Present Perspectives, and Future Directions

Saying hello to all members & readers, particularly the CUCD Education Committee for 2023-24. I’m looking forward using this blog to share news and ideas about what’s happening in Classics and Ancient History teaching at UK Universities. Elizabeth Pender, Chair.

On 10 May 2021, we announced to CUCD and UK universities our aim to stimulate a revival of ancient Greek in UK schools by offering a recognised formal language qualification, achievable through up to 50 hours of contact, and based on the grammar and vocabulary of Part 1 of Greek to GCSE by John Taylor. We had… Read More The new Intermediate Certificate (pre-GCSE) in Classical Greek

Neville Morley Do you remember being a student? I would wager that, for many if not most of us working in universities, the answer is yes, as the memories are kept alive by day-to-day reminders and reinforcement – and, more significantly, that our past experience as undergraduates is one of the most important influences, positive… Read More On the Other Side of the Screen…

Anactoria Clarke Working as an academic and associate lecturer for a UK distance learning university, I was accustomed to teaching via online platforms before the pandemic.  Granted, attendance was patchy, and participation unpredictable – but it was a familiar environment, and one which had a great deal of value for busy students unable to carve out… Read More Eliciting student voices in the era of ‘Zoom fatigue’

Many UK universities have moved their teaching online in record time. Course design that would normally take some years has instead been done in a week. Many colleagues have already taken necessary measures to re-design their assessments in the new situation, but some are still working on it, and many may still have specific choices… Read More Language (and other) assessments in the time of COVID-19

Magdalena Ohrman has run online Latin teaching for Trinity St Davids Lampeter, along with Fiona Mitchell (now at University of Birmingham) and here is a report reflecting on the experience and design of online assessment. Online assessment for Intensive Latin/Greek 1&2 at UWTSD Lampeter   Latin: Magdalena Ohrman 2015/16 Greek: Fiona Mitchell 2016/17   We… Read More Language Assessments 1: Magdalena Ohrman and Fiona Mitchell

Maria Pretzler of the University of Swansea explains what she and her colleagues have decided to do about language assessments at various levels. Here in Swansea we have been having lengthy discussions about replacing language exams in three languages (Egyptian, Greek and Latin). Colleagues at Swansea teach Middle Egyptian at two levels (with extra modules… Read More Language Assessments 2: Maria Pretzler

Darcy Krasne of Columbia University shared her plans for an advanced Latin module working on Apuleius’ Metamorphoses (they had read book 1, and Cupid and Psyche in the edition by Kenney). The primary purpose of an exam, in my opinion, is to get you to carefully and honestly review all of the previously-covered material, or engage in… Read More Language Assessments 3: Darcy Krasne