Talks for schools
We offer talks to schools about Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology. This includes topics in Greek and Latin literature, Greek and Roman history, and Greek and Latin language.
Talks are subject to our academics' availability - please note that our ability to deliver in-person presentation at schools and colleges that are further than one hour's public transport from Manchester may be limited. We are also happy to deliver talks remotely, online as these may be easier to schedule.
To arrange a talk at your school - in-person or remote - please contact Dr Andy Fear.
We are also happy for you to come to us. If you would like to arrange a campus visit, please get in touch with Sonja Bernhard. We can also arrange lecture shadowing for smaller groups (12 or fewer), during term time. Contact Sonja to find out timings of our Y1 and Y2 lectures.
Please see our outreach website for further information about the department's outreach activity.
Talk topics
All talks are designed to last 45 minutes but can be made longer or shorter. They are aimed at A-level students but could be modified for KS3 or KS4.
Greek history
- Ancient and Modern Debates about Democracy
- Political Spaces in Classical Athens
- The uses of Greek Inscriptions
- Commemoration of the Dead in Ancient Greece
- The Athenian Empire
- Herodotus and Thucydides
- Pausanias: An Ancient Guide to Greece
- The Acts of the Apostles and the Classical World
- What sort of Empire? The aims of Alexander the Great
Roman history
- The Imperial Image: Augustan propaganda
- Real life heroes? Roman Emperors and heroism
- Claudius, the Invalid Emperor
- Service in the Imperial Roman Army
- A day at the races: chariot racing in antiquity
- Blood and Sand - gladiators in antiquity
- Agricola: a Roman superhero
- Apocalypse Now: Boadicea's uprising
- The Edge of Civilisation: Hadrian's Wall
- Latin Inscriptions and Roman History
- Latin Inscriptions and Roman Britain
- Roman Ghosts
Greece and Rome history
- Disability in the ancient world
- Classics and Islam
- Egypt in the Graeco-Roman World
Latin literature
- Ovid the love poet
- Playing with Ovid
- The pronunciation of classical Latin (knowledge of Latin or Greek required)
- Aeneas: the hero reinvented?
- The Aeneid (further topics by discussion)
Greek literature
- Spectral encounters: Homer’s Underworld
- Odysseus: a new sort of hero?
- Achilles: an archetypal hero?
- Homer ( further topics by discussion)
- Greek tragedy (topics by discussion)
Ancient philosophy
- Who would want Socrates as a Husband?
- How much does Seneca love his mother?
- Beginning with Hierogylphs
- Odysseus’s adventures in Egypt
Recorded talks for streaming
Introduced by Dr Andrew Fear, Lecturer in Ancient History.
Introduced by Dr Peter Morton, Lecturer in Roman History.
Introduced by Dr John Taylor, Lecturer in Greek and Latin Language.
Introduced by Dr Peter Morton, Lecturer in Roman History.
Introduced by Dr Andrew Fear, Lecturer in Ancient History.