Bespoke Talks
This year, the Faculty of Classics has provided two sets of bespoke talks for Year 12 students in collaboaration with Aspire Liverpool. Aspire Liverpool is an organisation which works with young people from across Liverpool to provide information about Oxford and Cambridge and show that applying to these universities is within students’ reach.
In March, colleagues from the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Studies gave a series of short talks introducing the history and art of the Byzantine Empire.
In June, the Faculty collaborated with the Ashmolean Museum to deliver two talks on Classical Archaeology.
The Faculty is delighted to be reaching and inspiring such a large number of students for whom Classics and Archaeology are completely new subjects.
“Classical studies is very different from many of the humanities that I have been taught in the past so I found it incredibly interesting to hear about new opportunities.”
Aspire Liverpool Student
Archaeology
Clare Cory, Learning Officer: Secondary and Young People at the Ashmolean gave a talk entitled Stories about Archaeology - coins, pots and palaces – how objects can tell us about life in ancient times. Clare was followed by an introduction to Classical Archaeology from Maria Stamatopoulou: Not really Tomb Raiders: find out why archaeologists love looking in graves.
After both talks was the opportunity for students to ask questions.
"The talks have been really well pitched and well received! ..... We have really appreciated them and they have been well received by our students, even though for most, these are completely new subjects....It was a fascinating snapshot of disciplines most of them will not have considered and I think it is really important to encourage them to think beyond their own experiences, to think about objects and material culture and how it might inform their learning in a number of different areas. Hopefully also we will have sown a seed in a few minds and they will look beyond the limits of their school curriculum when deciding which courses to explore at university."
Alice Case, Classics for All, Liverpool Hub
“Thank you so much for the talk! It was fantastic to see the level of engagement from our students. The questions they were asking were great! Thank you so much again and hopefully we will see each other again in the future for another event!”
Harry Doyle, Aspire Liverpool
The students found the talks enjoyable and informative. Around 70% now want to find out more about studying at Oxford University and about half of those were encouraged to think about applying for a Classical subject. This is great feedback, especially given that almost none of the students have any school-based Classics.
“I liked how they showed what they had and how it was found and the information about it.”
“Very interesting and likeable speakers that [made you want] … to know more.”
Aspire Liverpool Students
We very much look forward to continuing to develop our engagement with Aspire Liverpool and Classics for All in the next academic year!
