Impact

The Classics department is committed to producing excellent research that has benefit beyond academia, especially in the areas of education, learning, and public engagement.

In REF 2014 we were ranked 7th in the country with 40% of our case studies at 4* and 60% at 3*. We were commended for the outstanding impact achieved through the promotion of the subject to popular audiences and our practical engagement with education and heritage management.

Our case studies ranged from expanding public understanding of Byzantium and modern Greek identity to promoting the pedagogical importance of everyday narrative conversations in secondary schools and the management of cultural heritage in Libya.

Expanding public understanding of Byzantium and its political and cultural legacy to Europe and the Near East

Public interest in Byzantium has traditionally been low, and Byzantium mostly viewed as a decadent non-western postscript to Greco-Roman civilisation. Throughout her decades of research Herrin has led the field in bringing a new perception of Byzantium into mainstream world history. From 2008, through the unforeseen immense popularity of her 2007 book and its many translated editions (3.2), she has awoken widespread public interest in and engagement with Byzantium. The principal benefit is cultural enrichment and increased knowledge of the international public interested in the history of Europe and the Near East; the book has also had impact in stimulating reflection on and discussion of current problems of nationalism and intolerance, especially in the regions from the Danube to the Tigris.

Read the REF 2014 report on the public understanding of Byzantium.

Saving and managing for public benefit the cultural heritage of Roman-period Libya

This impact derives from Wootton and Walda's archaeological research into the Roman sites of Libya, including the GIS mapping of site locations, and study and conservation of Hellenistic and Roman mosaics. Against the difficult background of Gaddafi's regime, its fall and the aftermath, they have, by invitation, provided training and advice to the Libyan Department of Antiquities in the documentation, conservation and management of archaeological objects and sites, especially mosaics. They provided Blue Shield, on request, with a watch-list of sites with GIS co-ordinates to enable NATO to target their airstrikes to avoid them. The primary beneficiaries are the Libyan people, to whose national pride and identity this patrimony is crucial, and the Libyan Department of Antiquities. The secondary beneficiaries are the international community, to whom Libya's rich Roman-period cultural patrimony is of major concern.

Find out more information on Roman-period Libya in the REF 2014 report.

‘Small stories’ research: its impact on the Greek classroom and beyond

Georgakopoulou's research in discourse analysis has from around 2000 pioneered — and promoted the academic and pedagogical importance of — the study of `small stories', that is everyday narrative conversations, using data drawn primarily from schoolchildren in Greece, including their communications through electronic media. Through her contributions to handbooks officially designated for teacher training in Greece, her work has become influential on teachers and hence classroom practices at secondary level, especially in the fast growing and crucial field of teaching Greek as a second language to migrant and minority children. The primary beneficiaries are teachers and pupils in secondary schools in Greece, but in other countries too Georgakopoulou's research has started to influence educational theory and practice in teaching English as a foreign or second language, and is also beginning to arouse interest for the psychotherapy of groups unable to construct coherent narrative accounts of their lives.

Discover 'Small stories' research and it's impact on the Greek classroom in the REF 2014 report.

Understanding modern Greek identity – Byron and the founding of the Greek nation-state

Following on earlier research which re-examined the construction of modern Greece, in 2008-12 Beaton researched the contribution of Byron (and Romanticism) to the creation of the Greek nation-state in the early 19th century, and has published the results in his 2013 book (3.4). The principal impact of Beaton's researches has been to challenge traditional Greek cultural and social assumptions about the continuity of their national identity from the ancient world. The main pathway is his distinctive contribution to the 200-year Greek debate about their national identity which has been intensified by the current socio-economic crisis. The principal beneficiaries are the Greek people, as reflected in public discourse in their mass media, and the non-Greek public interested in these issues. Other nascent beneficiaries are the worldwide community of Byron enthusiasts through cultural enrichment in their knowledge and understanding of Byron's role in creating modern Greece.

Further information in the REF 2014 report on understanding modern Greek identity.

Further Arts & Humanities impact case studies

Impact

The Classics department is committed to producing excellent research that has benefit beyond academia, especially in the areas of education, learning, and public engagement.

Expanding public understanding of Byzantium and its political and cultural legacy to Europe and the Near East

Saving and managing for public benefit the cultural heritage of Roman-period Libya

‘Small stories’ research: its impact on the Greek classroom and beyond

Understanding modern Greek identity – Byron and the founding of the Greek nation-state

Further Arts & Humanities impact case studies

Spotlight on COVID: Why global health is entangled with international politics

Spotlight on COVID: Pandemic language and the role of linguists

Spotlight on COVID: Investigating COVID-19's Effect on Digital Behaviour

Spotlight on COVID: Why are we fighting Coronavirus with 100-year-old tech?

400 years of Shakespeare

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Impact

The Classics department is committed to producing excellent research that has benefit beyond academia, especially in the areas of education, learning, and public engagement.

Expanding public understanding of Byzantium and its political and cultural legacy to Europe and the Near East

Saving and managing for public benefit the cultural heritage of Roman-period Libya

‘Small stories’ research: its impact on the Greek classroom and beyond

Understanding modern Greek identity – Byron and the founding of the Greek nation-state

Further Arts & Humanities impact case studies

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