Greek and Roman material culture

The Classical Studies discipline has distinctive expertise in the material culture of the ancient world. Staff research in this area covers a wide range of topics, including votive offerings from ancient sanctuaries, the archaeology of Etruscan Italy, ancient dress, ceramics, and Roman funerary monuments. The Material Culture research area members share an interest in placing the objects, sites and monuments of antiquity into their broader social contexts, identifying how they have shaped (and been shaped by) the ideas and practices of different cultures. A commitment to interdisciplinary activities marks our work, whether ‘reading’ images alongside literary texts or applying anthropological and scientific approaches to studying the classical past. We are involved in several national and international collaborations, organising excavations and conferences with partner institutions.

If you want to join us as a full- or part-time research student, 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

• The archaeology of Roman Italy
• The archaeology of Rome’s northern provinces
• Pre-Roman Italy and the Etruscans
• Greek and Roman art, especially its social and religious uses
• Roman funerary traditions and monuments
• The classical body
• The reception of Greek and Roman art and epigraphy
• Dress in the Roman Empire

Current/recent research projects

• The Social Significance of Curse Tablets in the Latin West
• The Materiality of Magical Practices in Roman Britain
• New Materialist Approaches to Sensory changes in Etruscan Tombs
• Ritual and identity: British collections of Bronze Figurines from First-Millennium BC pre-Roman Italy

Potential supervisors

• Dr Eleanor Betts
• Dr Emma-Jayne Graham
• Dr Valerie Hope
• Dr Jessica Hughes
• Professor Phil Perkins
• Dr Ursula Rothe
• Dr Alexandra Wilding

Fees and funding

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

• Classical Studies at The Open University
• The Votives Project
• The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion
• Sensory Studies in Antiquity