Our Mission

Within the broader ethical framework of the UniversityLink opens in a new window and as global citizens, we are committed to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion. In our teaching, research, and duty of care to both students and staff, our aim is to cultivate an open, respectful environment in our department that celebrates difference and opposes discrimination, whether on the basis of sex, gender, race, sexuality, neurodiversity, religion, physical abilities, or socio-economic background. We believe that a diverse and inclusive academic community supports the flourishing of all its members and is also a place where innovation thrives. We have a dedicated EDI OfficerLink opens in a new window and an Inclusive Education Officer drawn from the postgraduate community, who work together to implement change in response to the needs of an ever-evolving student body and research community.

Classics faces considerable challenges owing to its longstanding association with power, wealth, elitism, oppression, imperialism, and whiteness. Students and academics of colour, and those from challenging socioeconomic contexts, are still underrepresented. As a department, we are striving both to widen access to studying Classics in the UK, and to lead on critically reshaping Classics as a modern interdisciplinary field at the centre of the Humanities.

 

What are we doing?

1. Access to Classics at Warwick and Beyond

Our department is committed to widening access to Classics, and the Warwick Classics NetworkLink opens in a new window (WCN) plays a central role in putting this into practice. WCN brings together students and staff, and its activities fall under two broad headings:

 

Work with schools

As a network of teachers and academics, the WCN runs several schemes to support teachers of Classics and to promote the teaching of Classics. Every year we run an Ancient Worlds Day, where we invite school students into the department and offer a series of lectures, classes, and group discussions; the Warwick Ancient Drama FestivalLink opens in a new window, which centres around our performance of an ancient Greek play and incorporates a day of lectures and seminars for schools; and our Teachers’ Day, when academics work with teachers on aspects of Classics teaching.

 

Public Engagement

WCN is also involved in many public engagement projects and has developed strong links with local communities in Coventry, Warwickshire, and beyond. This includes our travelling museum and our work with local cultural institutions. There is a dedicated honours module option on Public Engagement open to undergraduate students, run by Dr Paul GrigsbyLink opens in a new window.

 

2. Inclusive Teaching and Learning

We want all students to achieve their potential. As teachers, we think strategically about how to design and deliver a curriculum that is inclusive of—and moves in response to—diverse needs. This means:

We warmly welcome students with no prior background in language learning or knowledge of the Classical world and plan our teaching to accommodate a wide range of backgrounds in and exposure to Classics. With a tailored, intensive programme of ancient language teaching, students have the option of learning Greek or Latin from scratch to the same level as those who enter with an A Level within three years. We run a peer mentoring scheme, in which undergraduate students are paid to offer extra Greek and Latin language support to beginner and intermediate students; we also fund one of our postgraduate students to act as Inclusive Education Officer and to run study skills sessions and a Study Café.

We adapt our teaching environments to support neurodivergent and disabled students, for instance by providing learning materials in advance and in formats that can be accessed remotely, tailoring assessment methods, and adjusting coursework schedules. Staff meet termly to discuss how to best meet the needs of students who may be facing particular short-term or long-term difficulties.

We collaborate with students in the department to understand the needs of the student base. This includes gathering and responding to feedback on our modules, involving students in curriculum design, working with the Student Staff Liaison Committee to hear and respond to student voices, and encouraging student representation on the departmental Inclusion Committee.

Our undergraduate and postgraduate modules are all research-led and reflect our commitment as a research community to decolonising the curriculum and to bringing contemporary critical thinking to bear both on the surviving texts and material of classical antiquity and on scholarship in the field. For example, our ‘The Roman Everyday’ module focuses on what it is to orient ourselves towards ancient working class and subaltern voices, while ‘The Vulnerable Body in Roman Literature and Thought’ module investigates what being vulnerable, impotent, dependent, or persecuted meant in the Roman world. Other modules such as ‘Art & Architecture of Asia Minor’ look beyond the traditional canons of Greek art and challenge students to look at issues of cultural contact and influences in new ways. We nurture interdisciplinary thinking in our teaching and encourage our students to read and explore widely both across the various sub-fields in Classics and beyond.

 

3. Integrated support and wellbeing

We take pastoral and welfare support of students and staff very seriously and maintain close links with Warwick Wellbeing and Student SupportLink opens in a new window. We recognise that students’ personal and academic development go hand in hand. All our students have a personal tutor in the department who acts as an academic mentor and can help students access sources of wellbeing and learning support. The senior tutorLink opens in a new window provides department-specific training to new personal tutors, and all personal tutors receive training in how to support students from the Dean of Students officeLink opens in a new window. We also run an Inclusive Education Forum at which students can share any concerns with members of the department.

If you are a current student in the department and would like to express your view on anything covered in these pages, please contact the EDI Officer, Dr Emily Clifford.Link opens in a new window

 

For further resources and reading material on issues of equality and social justice in Classics, please see hereLink opens in a new window.