Classical Association of Scotland

CAS is delighted to announce the first of its free Online Seminar Series.

Stories in Stone: Breaking the Code

Saturday 29th August 2020

Live Seminars via Zoom

Stories in Stone: Breaking the Code is the first in our series of sessions loosely centred around the theme of ‘Beginnings’. In this set of three seminars, participants will start with a consideration of the Latin and other classical allusions that permeate our daily lives in modern-day Scotland before contemplating the history and influences that brought us to this point. It is divided into three hour-long classes that participant are welcome to pick and choose from, but which are designed to build on one another. The focuses of this session are:

Latin language and epigraphy*
Classical Reception of the ancient word in a Scottish context

(*While there will be a number of original texts and inscriptions considered, this session is designed with beginners in Latin in mind. Indeed, no previous experience of the language is necessary, since material-aids will be provided. That said, we hope that post-beginners or those with more experience in the language will find something of interest in the wider discussions, too!)

The sessions will be divided as follows:

Session One: The Past in our Present

‘What did the Romans (and Greeks!) ever do for us?’ While the daily lives of those living in the ancient world might seem very remote from the lives we live today, our present is still shaped (consciously and unconsciously) by our classical ancestors. In this session we will look at how we have used Latin and Greek mottos, inscriptions, and iconography to shape our identity and city-scapes here in Scotland. We will reflect upon where these traditions ‘began’ and how they impact our present. By introducing approaches to classical reception, this session seeks to introduce some of the ideological concerns associated with epigraphy, which we will explore further in the classical context in the following sessions.

Session Two: Cracking the Code

Getting to grips with some Latin! This session will introduce students to Latin and focus on language and translation, using short inscriptions as accessible example texts. Students will be provided with a decoding toolkit to enable then to start translating and using Latin straight away.

Session Three: Monumental Messages

In this session, the students will consider the meaning and significance of inscriptions – what influences their wording and creation, and can they tell us more than just what’s written? Here we will be thinking about context and stories/message transmitted with the aim of enabling a greater degree of interaction, encouraging students to explore the inscriptions in more depth. The examples for the first half of this session will focus on ancient Roman funeral inscriptions before two case studies focusing on more modern examples.

These sessions will be run by: Alison Greer (University of Glasgow); Alice Rae (University of Edinburgh) and Sarah Wolstencroft (University of Glasgow), with additional input from Hardeep Dhindsa (King’s College London) and Alex Imrie (University of Edinburgh).

To sign up, or for more information, please contact Dr Alex Imrie ([email protected]). PLEASE NOTE: participants will need to register to receive the access codes for the Zoom live sessions. Some materials will be pre-circulated to attendees and/or will be made available on this website.

Since 2018, the CAS has been in the process of redefining itself as an organisation. While we remain committed to our ongoing mission to promote and disseminate the study of the ancient world in a general sense, our membership and committee have increasingly turned our attention to efforts directed at the landscape in Scottish schools.

It is no secret that provision of Classics in Scotland’s state schools is sparse compared to our neighbours to the south. In 2017-18, there were fewer than twenty state schools offering any opportunities in Classical Studies, with even fewer still offering any Latin. Since then, however, in close collaboration with Classics for All, CAS have begun to address this situation in a multitude of ways, be this through encouraging Latin in primaries; working with teachers and the SQA to make secondary level Classical Studies more accessible to non-specialists, through to working alongside colleagues in Edinburgh to secure the recommencement of initial teacher training in Scotland for the first time in decades.

Like the rest of the world, some of our wider outreach efforts have been heavily disrupted by the effects of the COVID pandemic. This has not stopped us trying to engage with anyone interested in antiquity, though!

It is with great pride, then, that we announce the beginning of a new series of online sessions that will take place over the coming year: The CAS Online Seminar Series. These will cater to a range of interests and abilities. They will be designed and delivered by a range of teachers, students and academics, depending on the topic and level being offered. Most importantly, however, they will be completely free to those who sign up!

Our working group overseeing this series of seminars decided that it would be good to tie these sessions together loosely with an annual theme. Somewhat fittingly for this new endeavour, not to mention the new reality we face in the midst of the pandemic, our theme for 2020-21 is ‘Beginnings’.

The first session will be announced shortly, and will take place at the end of August 2020, so watch this space for more information!

Dr Alex Imrie (CAS National Outreach Co-ordinator) [email protected]

Stories in Stone: CAS Online Seminar Series

New Beginnings