The University of British Columbia
Vancouver campus
WHEN CLASSICAL WORLDS COLLIDE
From the pyramids to the Colosseum, from the Olympic Games to Mecca, our department offers a unique opportunity to link different disciplines and study ancient civilizations in a wider context.
EXPLORE THE PAST AND GAIN INSIGHT INTO THE PRESENT
Our unique program opens the door to three thousand years of language, literature, art, philosophy, religion and history, revealing their influence on modern culture.
UNEARTHING ANCIENT CULTURES
We pursue research into the cultures of ancient Egypt, the Near East, Greece and Rome, with ample archaeological fieldwork opportunities for our students, like the Centre for the Study of Ancient Sicily.
“Consent and Consensuality in Ancient Greco-Roman Marriage” (Judy Hallett, University of Maryland)
27th Feb 2019Judith Hallett will reflect upon the relationship between ancient Greco-Roman marriage and two English nouns of Latin derivation: “consent”, which dictionaries customarily define as agreement on a course of action by two or more individuals, and “consensuality”, which I would define as the act of freely and mutually awarding consent, especially in the realm of...
Grad Conference: Transcending Boundaries
9th Mar 201919th Annual Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference (AIGSC) organized by CNERS graduate students. Transcending Boundaries: Unification and Divisions in Societies Details to follow.
12th Mar 2019
Almost a century ago, the accidental discovery of paintings on the walls of a temple sparked more than a decade of excavations at the site we now know as Dura-Europos. Those paintings clung to the plaster of the first religious structure discovered at the site, the Temple of Bel, and in the years that followed...
Almost a century ago, the accidental discovery of paintings on the walls of a temple sparked more than a decade of excavations at the site we now know as Dura-Europos. Those paintings clung to the plaster of the first religious structure discovered at the site, the Temple of Bel, and in the years that followed...
13th Mar 2019
Examining the ancient and modern ruinations of Dura-Europos on the Syrian Euphrates, this seminar will compare destructions by the Roman army, Sasanian forces, Yale archaeologists, and Daesh, and question the differential way these are understood. Featured Image: “Excavations at Dura Europos in 1932-1933.” YUAG Dura collection.
Examining the ancient and modern ruinations of Dura-Europos on the Syrian Euphrates, this seminar will compare destructions by the Roman army, Sasanian forces, Yale archaeologists, and Daesh, and question the differential way these are understood. Featured Image: “Excavations at Dura Europos in 1932-1933.” YUAG Dura collection.
16th Mar 2019
Details to follow.
Details to follow.
27th Mar 2019
This talk focuses on the importance of deceased family members for emperor’s self-promotion. Using coins from the collection housed at the Otago Museum in Dunedin, New Zealand, it presents three case studies (Tiberius’ promotion of Augustus, Caligula’s promotion of Nero and Drusus, and Claudius’ promotion of Germanicus) in order to examine the evolution of ideas,...
This talk focuses on the importance of deceased family members for emperor’s self-promotion. Using coins from the collection housed at the Otago Museum in Dunedin, New Zealand, it presents three case studies (Tiberius’ promotion of Augustus, Caligula’s promotion of Nero and Drusus, and Claudius’ promotion of Germanicus) in order to examine the evolution of ideas,...
AIA Lecture: “Localizing Exotics in Early China” (Lillian Tseng, New York University)
2nd Apr 2019This lecture explores the conflation of globalization and localization through newly excavated objects from princely tombs in Han China (260 BCE-220 CE), particularly its formative stage in the second and first centuries BCE. It examines how ancient cultures encountered and interacted and how media, motifs and contexts played roles in the process of transmission and...
Susanna Braund Wins UBC Killam Research Prize
We are pleased to announce that Susanna Braund has won a UBC Killam Research Prize. This prize recognizes outstanding research and scholarly contributions. Winners were selected by UBC’s Faculty Research Award Committee, which spans arts and humanities, business, applied science, science, and medicine. She is in the group of 5 recipients within Arts. For further […]
Thomas Schneider receives ASOR Membership Service Award
Thomas Schneider was awarded a Membership Service Award by the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) at their Annual Meeting in November, in recognition of his seven years as editor of the journal Near Eastern Archaeology, during which the journal secured a place in the top quartile of archaeological and historical journals. This award recognizes […]
Dr. Susanna Braund is elected to the Australian Academy of the Humanities
Professor Susanna Braund has been elected as a Corresponding Fellow to the Australian Academy of the Humanities, which is the highest honor for achievement in the humanities in Australia. She has been recognized for her international leadership on imperial Latin literature and the reception of Roman antiquity. Corresponding Fellows are elected in recognition of their […]
Matthew McCarty receives prize for best article in Phoenix
Dr. Matthew McCarty has be awarded the sixth Mary White Prize for Best Article in Phoenix (2017) for his co-written article, “Connected Communities in Roman Mithraism: Regional Webs from the Apulum Mithraeum III Project (Dacia)”, which will appear in the forthcoming issue of Phoenix. The prize is named for Mary White, who was a Classics professor at the University […]
Another new book by Dr. Keddie
Dr. Anthony Keddie is co-author with L. Michael White of a new book entitled Jewish Fictional Letters from Hellenistic Egypt (SBL Press, 2018). Publication Notice from SBL Press Jewish Fictional Letters from Hellenistic Egypt: The Epistle of Aristeas and Related Literature The first Greek text of the Epistle of Aristeas published in more than a century. The Greek […]
Dr. G. Anthony Keddie has published a new book on apocalypticism in Early Roman Palestine, “Revelations of Ideology.” (Brill, 2018) About In Revelations of Ideology, G. Anthony Keddie proposes a new theory of the social function of Judaean apocalyptic texts produced in Early Roman Palestine (63 BCE–70 CE). In contrast to evaluations of Jewish and […]
Thomas Schneider’s research on early alphabet discovery garners international attention
A paper recently published in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research by Dr. Thomas Schneider has received news coverage from North America to Israel, Russia, and Korea! The paper reports on what could be the earliest example of our alphabet sequence from a 3400 year-old piece of Egyptian pottery. Read more on […]
Gregg Gardner named division Chair for Association for Jewish Studies
Professor Gregg Gardner has been named Chair of the Division of “Jewish History and Culture in Antiquity” of the Association for Jewish Studies (AJS). In this role, he will be shepherding and overseeing all paper proposals on Jews and Judaism during the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine ages for the AJS’s Annual Meeting – the largest […]
Franco De Angelis awarded two fellowships
Professor Franco De Angelis has been awarded the Arthur Dale Trendall Fellowship by the Institute of Classical Studies of the University of London. The fellowship was inaugurated in 2000 in memory of Arthur Dale Trendall for senior scholars from universities outside the UK, who work on the same areas of interest as Professor Trendall, including […]
Dr. Thomas Schneider elected Visiting Professor of Halbert Centre
Dr. Thomas Schneider has been elected as a Visiting Professor of the Halbert Centre for Canadian Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He will spend up to one month during the 2018-9 academic year at the Hebrew University, delivering two public lectures, a workshop for students, as well as the annual Hans Jakob Polotsky […]
An introduction to our Department, its history and aims, as well as location and contact information.
Learn more about UBC, its campus and reputation for excellence in teaching and research.
Get to know the city, its unique setting, cultural diversity and reputation as one of the world’s most liveable cities.
History of Classical Studies at UBC
Read A Brief History of Classical Studies at UBC by Robert B. Todd, Professor Emeritus