CLAS2981: Communicating the Ancient World

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• To study the way the ancient world is represented in 21st century communications.
• To identify the key communicators of the ancient world and explore what makes them successful.
• To investigate and analyse in detail a variety of material, including tv, radio, podcasts and journalism, critiquing these representations of the ancient world.
• To examine the relationship between academic research, public engagement and knowledge exchange, and to evaluate how Classics fares in comparison to other subject communities.
• To engage directly with non-academic stakeholders, learning what Classics means to them, and how the Classics community can respond.

• The module will expose students to the tensions which exist between the study of Classics and the public perception of the ancient world. Students will engage in depth with how Classics is defined by national academies and funding agencies and will question the extent to which this aligns with the priorities of the subject community in the 21st century.
• Diverse modes of communication will be examined and evaluated for their audience, reach and impact. Students will consider what makes a successful communications strategy and will analyse the extent to which those communicating Classics demonstrate a strategic approach.
• Students will design and deliver a communications strategy to optimise the representation of one aspect of the ancient world. They will take ownership for this project and will liaise directly with relevant external organisations, where relevant.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• An understanding of the communications landscape as it pertains to the ancient world in the UK.
• A knowledge of the range of media types and outputs which contribute to public perception of Classics.
• A critical knowledge of current approaches and debates in the representation of the ancient world outside academia.

Subject-specific Skills:

• The ability to analyse and draw conclusions from a broad range of sources which shed light on public engagement and knowledge exchange activities.
• The capacity to identify a compelling hook and build an interesting story about the ancient world.
• The ability to make proper use of core reference tools and bibliography.
• The ability to engage critically with modern scholarship on the ancient world, and to use and adapt relevant approaches when formulating a communication strategy.

Key Skills:

• The ability to combine close and detailed textual criticism with a broader analytical framework.
• The confidence to engage with internal and/or external stakeholders to a build a professional network.
• The ability to think creatively about ways to enthuse and engage non-classicists with the ancient world.
• An awareness of the political influence on Classics in education and society.
• The capacity to produce a clear, coherent and well-reasoned narrative, both orally and in written form.

• Lectures will introduce the key topics through carefully evaluated literary and material textual, visual and audio evidence. Seminars will allow students to hone their skills in close analysis of this evidence and develop their personal responses to it.
• Examples of public engagement and effective communication from colleagues in Durham Universitys Marketing and Communications department and Durham Classics alumni will be shared throughout the course.
• Through reading and listening (for lectures and seminars), presentation (in seminars), and formative work, students will develop their own ideas and learn to present and evaluate their own and others' communication styles in constructive ways.
• Students will be assessed through a communications strategy (50%) and an output (50%, this could be a written blog, newspaper article, introduction to a play programme, museum display board, podcast episode or script for tv segment). Both these forms of assessment will enable students to demonstrate critical and creative skills, knowledge of key topics and themes in the communication of the ancient world in the 21st century.

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