We talk about the Classics Admissions Test, growing up in Fife, Jess’ work with the Clydeside Project, things that get into a ‘fankle’ (Arlene explains all!), and how we’d love for more teachers to teach Classics in Scotland!
Contributors
Professor Bill Allan grew up in Bowhill, a former coal-mining village in Fife, Scotland. Thanks to the dedication and support of teachers at Denend Primary School and Glenrothes High School, he became the first person in his family to attend University. He studied Classics and Gaelic at Edinburgh University and taught at Harvard University before coming to University College Oxford. He is particularly interested in the literature and intellectual history of archaic and classical Greece.
Jessica Curry studies Classics (Course 1B) at St. Hugh's College and is currently in her final year. Previous to this she studied at St. Columba's School in Inverclyde where she first fell in love with all things Classical via the Percy Jackson novels. A past committee member of the Oxford University Classics Society, she started rowing as a beginner in Fresher's Week and has volunteered with the Clydeside Project, a student organization that gives support and mentoring to Scottish Oxbridge applicants.
Originally from Lanarkshire, Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson studied Classics (1B) at St. Hilda’s College Oxford before completing further degrees at Harvard, Cambridge and Glasgow. A qualified school teacher, she taught Latin, Greek and Classical Studies to teenagers full-time while completing her doctorate in Classics education part-time. Since 2014, she has led the Classics in Communities project at the University of Oxford which investigates what impact the study of Classical languages has on children’s cognitive development. Arlene is an expert on the role of Classics in the curriculum and assessment systems of both Scotland and England and, in her role as OPEN Policy Leader, she acts as an advisor to both governments on education.
Katrina Kelly, the host of this podcast, studied Classics (Course IA) at Magdalen College from 2015-19 after being home-educated in Lytham St Annes on the Lancashire coast. Now a researcher at the Faculty, she hopes to help make Oxford Classics an ever more accessible, inclusive and exciting place to study and work. Katrina is also the Education Co-ordinator and Branches Officer for the Classical Association.
Things we mention:
Ecce Romani https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/EcceRomani
A textbook feat. Cornelia, Flavia and Marcus!
PGDE - the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education, a teaching qualification
Moray House, Edinburgh - https://www.ed.ac.uk/education
Univ https://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/ (short for University College)
Course 2 https://www.classics.ox.ac.uk/classics#/ is for those students coming to study Classics at Oxford who haven’t already taken qualifications in the Latin or Greek languages
The Val McDermid Oxford Podcast https://www.alumni.ox.ac.uk/article/val-mcdermid-st-hildas-1972
‘Greats’ – https://www.classics.ox.ac.uk/paper-descriptions-finals-greats#/ Part 2 (Years 3 and 4) of the Oxford Classics course
Read more:
Classical Studies in Scotland - https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/45755.html
Curriculum For Excellence - https://education.gov.scot/education-scotland/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5/what-is-curriculum-for-excellence
SCILT https://scilt.org.uk/ - Scotland’s National Centre for Languages
A 1 + 2 languages policy - https://education.gov.scot/improvement/learning-resources/a-1-plus-2-approach-to-modern-languages/
Classics in Scottish Schools article (2020) - https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/4AF25DFA90DE6D5E266A8B9E6B5262BB/S2058631020000495a.pdf/div-class-title-the-coronavirus-pandemic-exams-crisis-and-classics-in-scottish-schools-div.pdf
How can I get involved?
Oxford for Scotland - https://www.ox.ac.uk/oxfordforScotland
The Classical Association of Scotland https://cas.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/ and their schools network https://classicsforall.org.uk/what-we-do/our-networks/classical-association-scotland-schools-network-casn
The Clydeside Project - https://www.clydesideproject.org/
The Oxford Scottish Society - https://www.facebook.com/oxfordscotsoc/
