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Classics & Ancient History Warwick Classics Network

Engaging the Public with Classics. Why Bother? Madison Brown

When talking about Classics, you might hear the common argument that it’s the ‘foundation of western society’, or that it’s the ‘everything’ subject. It covers history, literature, language, philosophy, art and more: it involves all the factors that make a society what it is. So, if the relevancy and breadth of the subject is not in doubt, why is it that it is not already studied by everyone at school?

Why does it require effort to engage the wider public?

Unfortunately, a large part of the problem lies in the reputation of Classics, and it traditionally only being taught in private schools. Even now, there is a so-called “Classics poverty.” The Council of University Classics Departments (CUDC) have shown that the chance to study Classics at A-Level or GCSE often depends on “wealth or luck.”

Survey of working class Classicists

In a recent survey by the University of Edinburgh, classicists were asked to identify their background (based on parental occupation). Only 22.3% of classicists came from a working-class background, compared to nearly 40% of the UK workforce being working class. The graph demonstrates these differences, and how classics is disproportionate to UK’s demographic.

Managerial and professional backgrounds make up nearly 70% of classicists, despite only making up roughly 37% of the workforce. If we want to understand better how ancient societies worked – surely a wider range of perspectives from our society would be beneficial.

 

Class inequality is not the only issue Classics faces (race and gender inequality being two important topics, albeit not the focus here). As a humanities subject, it faces the same devaluation and defunding problems that other arts and humanities subjects also struggle with.

Within 5 years of the Conservatives coming into power in 2010, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport had its budget cut by nearly a quarter (£1.4 billion per annum to £1.1 billion). More recently, Cardiff University announced plans to stop offering their Ancient History (BA) degree, among other subjects like Languages, and Religion and Theology. The reduction in this sort of funding means maintaining engagement in arts and humanities with the wider public (both in and outside of the classroom) may become increasingly difficult.

So somehow, Classics finds itself in the overlap of being reliant on private education, whilst also relying on the humanities’ decreasing funding. It is less accessible to those without “wealth or luck,” but it is also subject to the types of budget cuts (and occasional distain) that other arts and humanities face. This is especially the case in comparison to the popularity of STEM in a continuously technologically advancing world.

Protesting cuts at Cardiff

Fig. 2. Cardiff University students protesting job cuts and course closures

 

So, what does this mean for the importance of engaging the public with Classics?

First, there is the obvious argument that more engagement (in Classics education) will increase the potential for funding to keep university degrees running. This is not unimportant by any means: but the importance extends far beyond university funding.

Engaging more people with Classics not only helps the subject’s funding, but it also has been shown to increase student’s social mobility, build cultural capital and support literacy. It does this especially amongst disadvantaged students: those with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), those who have English as an Additional Language (EAL), and those who qualify for Pupil Premium.

The fact that studying Classics builds these skills so greatly for disadvantaged children is a clear indicator of why Classics needs to continue to be spread to a wider audience. It builds language, critical-thinking and analytical skills (to name a few): benefits that privately educated students have reaped for decades.

Since it covers so many disciplines (literature, art, history, philosophy, and so on), and brings them together under one banner, Classics is practically a poster child for the humanities. The skills it teaches are applicable in everyday life and the working world. After all, when is it not good to think critically, especially in the age of AI and decline of media literacy?

Classics is the perfect subject to teach the value of arts and humanities. Its long reputation of being offered at private schools indicates that clearly this subject is seen as valuable by the upper classes. It contradicts the ideas pushed in recent years that humanities should fall beneath STEM in importance, and in funding.

It must be the responsibility of universities, and classicists specifically, to break down class divides within classics. In doing so, we have the perfect opportunity to uplift and teach skills to as many students, and members of the public, as possible. If we do this, then perhaps we can turn the tide and remind others of why the arts and humanities are so valuable, beyond just self-preservation of university departments.

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