The Reception of Classical Material Culture: Pedagogical approaches in UK Universities
Reflections on the Classical Association 2025 Panel organised by Dr Lenia Kouneni (Art History) and Dr Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis (Classics)
In July 2025 we organised a panel on ‘The Reception of Classical Material Culture: Pedagogical approaches in UK Universities’ at the Classical Association Conference, this year held at St Andrews. This built on our 2024 workshop on the teaching of the reception of classical material culture at Scottish universities, and broadened the scope of the enquiry UK-wide. The speakers came from three distinct geographical areas of Britain: the north – Dr Edmund Thomas, Associate Professor in Ancient Visual and Material Culture, department of Classics and Ancient History, at the Durham University – the west – Dr Shelley Hales, Associate Professor in Art & Visual Culture, Department of Classics & Ancient History, at the University of Bristol – and the south-east – Professor Caroline van Eck, Professor of Art History in the Department of Art History, at the University of Cambridge. They (and we) are drawn from both Classics and Art History departments.
The disciplinary context
A striking disciplinary divergence emerged between Art History and Classics in the course of the presentations and discussion. There has been a significant reduction of the teaching of classical art in Art History curricula, related to developments towards a more global art history. This is exemplified in the absence since 2011 of a post in Classical Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, one of the largest and most prestigious institutions for the teaching of Art History in the country. Caroline mentioned that in Cambridge Classical Art is covered in one week, while at St Andrews it is covered in one lecture at subhonours! An intriguing suggestion by Caroline to counter this reduction in the teaching of Classical Art was the idea of pooling expertise in summer schools. This reduction in the teaching of Classical Art in Art History departments has a concomitant limiting impact on the teaching of the reception of Classical Art, although, material with strong classising aspects, such as the art of the Renaissance, still features prominently within global Art History curricula.
The situation in Classics departments is very different. Classical Art remains an important element in curricula. It can be taught in dedicated modules, for instance on Greek Sculpture or the City of Pompeii, or integrated in broader courses on cultural history, for example on Augustan Rome. If anything it is increasing in prominence because it is more accessible to students than Latin and Greek which require years of dedicated study. This was explored in the 2023 Inclusive Classics Initiative conference which focused on material culture. The reception of Classical Art can feature as no more than an addendum in these courses, but is often more central, such as in the course described by Shelley on Pompeii which is structured as a series of archaeological explorations and receptions, or in dedicated modules such as Alexia’s ‘Classical Collections’ which focuses on C18th and C19th British collections. In fact, the reception of Classical Art is seen as a way of thinking critically about the creation of the canon and the varied uses (and abuses) of Classical Art in different periods, and at the same time as potentially more relevant to students’ lived experience.
Pedagogical approaches
All the speakers discussed pedagogical approaches that forefront active learning and engage students’ creativity and agency, giving them a genuine stake in how classical materials are understood and interpreted. Shelley and Edmund talked about the ways in which assessment serves as a crucial element in students’ reflective learning, functioning not just as a form of evaluation but as part of the learning process itself. They both emphasised the importance of diverse and authentic assessment methods and the benefits of prioritising creative projects. Such assignments encourage vulnerability over certainty, allowing students to grapple openly with material and to experiment freely. Catalogue entries, exhibition proposals and designs, reflective reports and object biographies enable students to develop their transferable skills; they allow students to create their own individual encounters with the classical material world while simultaneously grasping broader concepts and tracing the treatment of themes across different periods and contexts.
There was agreement across the presentations that an object-oriented approach proves particularly effective in this framework. Object biographies which trace an artifact’s creation, use, movement, and reception over time position objects as active participants in historical narratives and as key contributors in shaping human experience and cultural meanings. By centring objects in this way, students develop nuanced analytical skills, moving beyond text-based study.
Ideally such approaches entail first-hand encounters with material culture. Digital tools such as virtual reality and Google Maps can transport the classroom to archaeological sites and museums worldwide, making ancient spaces accessible and immediate. Site visits offer invaluable opportunities to engage students with local architecture and collections, bringing learners into direct contact with classical material culture. To demonstrate this in practice, we relocated to the Seminar Room in the Richardson Research Library, where we – Alexia and Lenia – led a short session on ways we have used objects in our classical reception teaching. Using some of the rich holdings of the St Andrews University Collections, including early printed books, Grand Tour journals, nineteenth-century photographic albums and plaster cameos, we discussed their potential to promote student engagement and understanding of concepts and ideas around classical reception. Our experience has been that such first-hand encounters and experiential learning are exciting for students, motivating them to ask questions and work out answers in small groups, and it also increases their sense of connection to their institution.
Lenia Kouneni and Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis