Coffee and Circuses

Coffee and Circuses

By David WalshSociety & CultureDocumentaryHistory
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Coffee and Circuses episodes

  • 33: Mai Musié (Oxford University)
    Mai joins David to discuss her work on outreach, particularly her project on the fourth century Eritrean and Ethiopian Gospels. Mai talks about the importance of broadening our understanding of the ancient world to include regions outside Greece and Rome - the Mediterranean didn't exist in a bubble, but was well connected to areas like Sub-Saharan Africa, China and India - and she reflects on how such projects encourage diverse participation in Classics by highlighting this inter-connectivity.

    Mai also reflects on her own journey, from leaving Eritrea as a child in the civil war to coming to London (via a few years in the Sudan), and how visiting the library after school ignited her interest in the ancient world.

    They also discuss Mai's new hobby, skateboarding, and its unexpected similarities with Classics...

    Mai is a Knowledge Exchange Project Officer for the University of Oxford. You can find her on twitter @MaiMusie.
    You can find her latest book, Forward with Classics: Classical Languages in Schools and Communities, here, which is part of a wider Classics in the Community Project.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    59 min
  • 32: Lisa Lodwick (Oxford University)
    Lisa joins David to discuss her work on plant remains from the late Iron Age to Roman periods. As Lisa explains, the growth in archaeobotany in recent years has given us a better understanding of not only what people in the Roman World ate, but how healthy they were, how different regions were connected, and what rural life was like beyond villa culture.

    Lisa also speaks about being a TRAC standing committee for 5 years and its recently developed journal (which she is currently editor-in-chief for), as well as the importance of open access and what it means for the future of publishing.

    They also chat about fieldwork, including how portaloos should always be the first thing on the list when planning it, and advice on punting.

    Lisa Lodwick is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at All Souls College Oxford. You can find her on Twitter @LisaLodwick, check out TRAJ at https://traj.openlibhums.org/, and the The Rural Settlement of Roman Britain here.

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    57 min
  • 31: Dunstan Lowe (University of Kent)
    Dunstan joins David to discuss his research on the grotesque in the Roman World and how it compares to today. What was considered ugly in Roman society? Why were some scars respectable and others not? What is the 'uncanny valley'? Dunstan also chats about his other main area of study: the ancient world in video games. He reflects on being initially resistant to reception studies, but how a chat in the pub changed his mind and led him to explore this topic. How realistic do we want games set in the ancient world to be? How might they be incorporated into the curriculum? How do they create alternate histories? What is Dunstan's favourite beat-em up franchise?

    Also: whether children tend to follow in their parent's footsteps, where the word syphilis comes from, and more about how David loves Skyrim.

    Dunstan Lowe is Senior Lecturer in Latin Literature at the University of Kent. You can find him on twitter @AncientPlay  and watch him at the 'Interactive Pasts Conference' here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAF-RkswNqo

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    57 min
  • 30: Fiona Haarer (Roman Society/KCL)
    Fiona joins David to discuss the Roman Society, including how it's developed and the challenges it faces, the upcoming FIEC & CA conference, her work on the emperors Anastasius and Justinian, what led her to study Byzantium, and what areas of Late Antiquity she thinks need exploring. 

    Fiona is Secretary of the Roman Society and teaches MA beginners Greek at KCL: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/dr-fiona-haarer

    You can find the Roman Society online at: http://www.romansociety.org/

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    55 min
  • 29: Alex Davis, Charlie Edwards and Vicky Saward-Read (University of Kent)
    Three guests for the price of one this week: Charlie Edwards, Alex Davis and Vicky Saward-Read, all of whom have just finished their UG degrees in Classics and Archaeology here at Kent. 

    They reflect on their time here at university and what a life-changing experience it’s been. Charlie discusses his time with Kent Raising and Giving Society, Alex talks about coming to higher education as a mature student and the opportunities it’s given her, and Vicky looks back on her time as head of the Kent Classics and Archaeological Society. 

    They give advice for any would-be students, chat about their plans for the future (including sticking around for MAs), and most importantly, how David would like to be stuffed and put on display in a museum one day. 

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    55 min
  • 28: Richard Hobbs (British Museum)
    Richard joins David to reflect on how he originally had no plans to go into archaeology or museums, and just wanted to be a drummer in a band, but through a knack of meeting the right people at the right time his career kept progressing. He also discusses what valuable objects can tell us about the influence of Persia on Rome, why we need to rethink the Roman occupation of Britain, working for the Portable Antiquities Scheme, what Trump and late Roman emperors might have in common, and what links Roald Dahl to famous Mildenhall Treasure.

    Richard is curator of the Roman Britain gallery at the British Museum. You can see his profile here:
    https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/departments/staff/britain,_europe_and_prehistory/richard_hobbs.aspx 
    and follow him on Twitter at: @RHobbsBM


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    1 hr 5 min
  • 27: Caroline Lawrence (Author of the Roman Mysteries)
    Caroline joins David in the London Mithraeum to discuss her new book The Time Travel Diaries, in which a boy from modern London is transported back to Roman Londinium via a portal in the temple. Caroline reflects on how she came to write historical fiction, if she could travel through time where she'd go, and her love of all things Sci-Fi (including when she appeared as an extra in Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Given this episode was recorded before the Game of Thrones finale, we also make some predictions which weren't that far off!

    You can find Caroline on Twitter at @CarolineLawrenc and her website at http://www.carolinelawrence.com/

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    50 min
  • 26: Phil Smither (University of Kent)

    Rounding off the TRAC 2019 episodes, David is joined by Phil, who served as Head of the TRAC Local Organising Committee, to reflect on the conference and discuss Phil's PhD on Richborough Roman Fort. Phil gives advice for any would-be conference organisers, talks about why Brexit-late Roman Britain analogies don't work, piecing together early 20th century archaeology reports, his time excavating at Silchester, and the possibility of a NSFW spin-off 'Ale and Circuses'.

    Phil Smither is a PhD student at the University of Kent. You can find him at academia.edu :https://kent.academia.edu/PhilipSmither


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    53 min
  • 25: Miller Power (Durham University)

    For the third episode recorded at TRAC, David was joined by Miller Power, who was presenting a poster at the conference on non-binary and intersex visibility in Roman archaeology. Miller chats how his own trans-identity and autism informs his work, the importance of discussing marginalised identities in archaeology, and how archaeology can be used to raise awareness and help people understand these aren't new issues.

    You can find Miller on Twitter at: @millerjpower

    Check out his website at: http://www.pyriting.co.uk/


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    29 min
  • 24: Frances McIntosh (English Heritage)

    Frances joins David in the second TRAC episode to discuss her role as curator of Chesters Roman Fort, and her PhD/new book on the Clayton Collection housed at Chesters. She talks about the collection's founder John Clayton, the impact of antiquarians, the difficulties in adding enough strings to your archaeological-bow, but also how rewarding a career it can be.

    You can find Frances on Twitter at: @wallcurator 

    The Clayton Collection: https://www.barpublishing.com/the-clayton-collection.html


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    29 min

About Coffee and Circuses

From the publisher's feed

The Roman poet Juvenal once said people are entertained as long as they have 'bread and circuses'. Now we can go one better with 'coffee and circuses'! David Walsh chats to a range of people…