Digital and spatial classics

Qualifications Duration Start dates Application period
PhD
(MPhil also available)
Full-time: 3–4 years
Part-time: 6–8 years
February and October January to April
Qualifications
PhD (MPhil also available)
Duration
Full-time: 3–4 years
Part-time: 6–8 years
Start dates
February and October
Application period
January to April

In recent years, the spatial turn in the Humanities has been reinvigorated and shaped by the digital turn. Whether it is the ability to map texts, build 3-D models, or link resources, digital resources are transforming Classical Studies. The OU’s Digital and Spatial Classics research team is at the forefront of these efforts to not only rethink conceptions of the ancient world but also develop new methods and tools for its study. With connections globally and across the university, we are an intensely collaborative group, supported by funding from UK, European and US public agencies and commercial bodies.

The core focus of the DSC group has been to build transferable tools and establish a set of international standards for exploring and visualising the ancient world online:

  • Challenging the prevailing cartographic vision of places as dots on a map and the ideological division between East and West, the Hestia project developed innovative interdisciplinary methods and digital tools to reimagine Herodotean geography as rooted in the connections between people and places across the Mediterranean.
  • By producing a fully annotated digital text of Pausanias, the Digital Periegesis project defines and explores the forms of space within and the spatial form of his Description to show how his movement through the Greek landscape is traced by and bound up in the individual stories of its places.
  • The Pelagios Network has developed a simple annotation method for linking online resources that can help create a world wide web of antiquity. Its open-source platform, Recogito, empowers researchers and students to annotate texts, images, and databases without learning code digitally. Additionally, it is growing a community of individuals and organisations across the humanities and cultural heritage. It is devoted to sharing knowledge and expertise and coordinating action to study the history of places.

The methods and technologies developed by the DSC team are transforming the cultural capital of the ancient world online, how information about the ancient world is found and can be used, and how the past is conceived. We welcome you to join us!

If you would like to join us as a full- or part-time research student in an area that corresponds to the research interests of one or more staff members, please contact us for an informal preliminary discussion. A well-thought-out research proposal that sets out specific research questions and your strategies for addressing them and outlines the originality of your topic or approach will enhance your chances of admission. We are always glad to offer advice before application (for example, on how your project might enhance existing work in the field, what facilities you would need, what ancient and/or modern language ability you need for your project, and how you could participate in the discipline’s research culture and engage with students in other universities).

Entry requirements

Minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) and an MA with a minimum grade of merit. If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English

Potential research projects

  • digital classics
  • ancient geography
  • network analysis
  • historical GIS and deep mapping
  • linked data and the semantic web

Current/recent research projects

  • Making digital history: the impact of digitality on public participation and scholarly practices in historical research
  • Cultural Contact in Early roman Spain through Linked Open Data
  • Integrating Linked Data Resources with Existing Research Methodologies in Classics and Related Disciplines

Potential supervisors

Fees and funding

UK fee International fee
Full-time: £4,786 per year Full-time: £12,146 per year
Part-time: £2,393 per year Part-time: £6,073 per year

Some of our research students are funded via the Open‐Oxford‐Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership; others are self-funded.

For detailed information about fees and funding, visit Fees and studentships.

To see current funded studentship vacancies across all research areas, see Current studentships.

Links

Latin text
 

How to apply

Get in touch

If you have an enquiry specific to this research topic, please contact:

Dr Jasmine Hunter Evans and Dr Marchella Ward
Email: FASS-ClassicalStudies-Enquiries
Phone: +44 (0)1908 653247

Apply now

Please review the application process if you’re interested in applying for this research topic.