{"id":1938,"date":"2026-04-28T08:56:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T08:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/?p=1938"},"modified":"2026-04-28T08:58:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T08:58:46","slug":"rethinking-assessment-in-classical-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/?p=1938","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking Assessment in Classical Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"

On April 30, 2026, the Open University is hosting a symposium on Rethinking Assessment in Classical Studies<\/em>.\u00a0 This symposium, organized by Astrid Voigt and James Robson, brings together educational practitioners from across the UK and beyond to explore ways in which assessment design can respond to current pedagogical issues in the HE sector.<\/p>\n

Many academics working in Classical Studies, Ancient History and related disciplines have developed forms of non-traditional and \u2018authentic\u2019 assessment in recent years.\u00a0 Some involve students submitting\u00a0work in the form of reports, videos, or proposals, for example, while other support them to produce creative work, ranging from fiction to artwork and from exhibitions to computer games. Sometimes the motivation behind this kind of assessment is employability, with students completing \u2018real-world\u2019 tasks to prepare them for the world of work.\u00a0 Yet just as often other issues are being addressed, such as equality, diversity and inclusion, the challenges presented by Artificial Intelligence, or simply the desire to encourage students to think outside the essay box.\u00a0 Creative assignments, in particular, can inspire different forms of engagement and learning, while giving students scope to approach and show their understanding of ancient material in imaginative and personalized ways.<\/p>\n

The presentations in this symposium outline innovative models of assessment already in place, showcasing assessment in the form of mini-exhibitions, cookery, music, poetry, and creative writing, amongst others.<\/p>\n

The programme for the symposium can be found below.<\/p>\n

For more information on the content of the talks, you can read the abstracts<\/strong><\/a> here.<\/p>\n

Rethinking Assessment in Classical Studies<\/h2>\n

30 April 2026, 10:00-16:00, at The Open University in Milton Keynes and Online<\/strong><\/p>\n

PROGRAMME<\/strong><\/p>\n

10:00 \u2013 10:20 <\/strong>ARRIVAL and NETWORKING with Hot Drinks and Pastries<\/p>\n

10:20 \u2013 10:30<\/strong> WELCOME (Astrid\u00a0Voigt and James Robson)<\/p>\n

10:30 \u2013 11:40<\/strong> SESSSION 1 Rethinking Assessment: Authenticity, Diversity and Inclusion<\/u><\/p>\n

Authentic Assessment and Active Learning at University of Bristol<\/strong>
\nHannah-Marie Chidwick and Shelley Hales, University of Bristol<\/p>\n

Assessing \u2018Applied Classics\u2019<\/strong>
\nAlice K\u00f6nig, University of St Andrews<\/p>\n

Diversifying Assessment: Students as Curators and Communicators<\/strong>
\nEmma Bridges and\u00a0Astrid\u00a0Voigt, The Open University<\/p>\n

11:40 \u2013 11:50 <\/strong>BREAK<\/p>\n

11:50 \u2013 13:00<\/strong> SESSION 2 Creative Assessment and Beyond<\/u><\/p>\n

The Joys (and Pains) of Assessing Creative Work<\/strong>
\nSharon Marshall, University of Exeter<\/p>\n

Conversation-based Oral Assessments for Classical Studies<\/strong>
\nJoe Grimwade, University of Southampton<\/p>\n

Ancient MasterChef: Using a Food-based Assessment to Address Cultural Bias and Misconceptions<\/strong>
\nErica Rowan, Royal Holloway, University of London<\/p>\n

13:00 \u2013 14:00 <\/strong>LUNCH<\/p>\n

14:00 \u2013 14:50<\/strong> SESSION 3 Assessment Rethought: Case Studies 1<\/u><\/p>\n

Rethinking Formative Assessment in Classics: The Case of the Homeric Map of London<\/strong>
\nAntony Makrinos, University College London<\/p>\n

Real-World Scenarios: AI Literacy for Classics, with or without AI<\/strong>
\nEdward A. S. Ross, Jackie Baines, University of Reading<\/p>\n

Creating Centos: Writing Poetry as a Form of Assessment<\/strong>
\nMatthew Payne, University of Leiden (Netherlands)<\/p>\n

14:50 – 15:00\u00a0 <\/strong>BREAK<\/p>\n

15:00 \u2013 15:30<\/strong> SESSION 4 Assessment Rethought: Case Studies 2<\/u><\/p>\n

The X Sleepers of Y: Using a Creative Assignment to Investigate Religious and Social Transformations in Late Antiquity<\/strong>
\nMark Humphries, Swansea University<\/p>\n

A Creative Guide to Early Rome: Authentic Assessment in Ancient History<\/strong>
\nHenry Clarke, University of Leeds<\/p>\n

15:30 \u2013 16:00 <\/strong>BLUE SKY THINKING and CLOSE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On April 30, 2026, the Open University is hosting a symposium on Rethinking Assessment in Classical Studies.\u00a0 This symposium, organized by Astrid Voigt and James Robson, brings together educational practitioners from across the UK and beyond to explore ways in which assessment design can respond to current pedagogical issues in the HE sector. Many academics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conferences","category-teach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1938"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1939,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938\/revisions\/1939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/classicalstudies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}