Month: October 2015

AMPAH 2016

The Annual Meeting for Postgraduates in Ancient History will take place here at Newcastle University on Saturday 19th March 2016.

Call for Papers

‘Messages and Media’

The world is full of messages. From text to images to sounds, messages dominate society, past and present. How can we explore this phenomenon in and through ancient history? What are media? Where is the message? AMPAH 2016, as usual, invites papers of all topics from postgraduate students of Ancient History and Classics, but in particular we would like to explore sending and receiving in the Ancient World whether through images and statues, through text, inscriptions, or the proverbial ‘writing on the wall’; from ‘putting on a show’, to performing in the public arena, how do we interpret their interactions? And how can we, as ancient historians, use media to ‘get our message across’?

Topics welcomed include, but are not limited to:

• Sending and Receiving
• Public Image
• Politics as performance
• Propaganda as medium
• Graffiti, papyrology, and non-elite media
• Music and poetry
• Popular culture in the Ancient World
• Public inscriptions
• Historiographical context
• Reception and recreation
• Messages to and from the gods
• Transmitting ideologies
• Rhetoric and media
• History and its message

Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words for papers of twenty minutes to ampah2016@newcastle.ac.uk by Monday 11th January 2016.

Events Newsletter, week 25.10.15

This week’s newsletter is up, folks – to see it in .pdf form, ! If you would like to promote an event, please get in touch
(m.ahlers1@ncl.ac.uk).

Research Seminars

Archaeology:
Roman Archaeology Research Seminar
Tuesday 27th October, 6-7pm, Armstrong Building, Room 1.05
Jane Webster (Newcastle): ‘A dirty window on the Iron Age’? Recent developments in the archaeology of Celtic (and Romano-Celtic) religion.

Classics and Ancient History:
Classics and Ancient History Research Seminar
Wednesday 21st October, 5-7pm, Armstrong Building, Room 2.50
Edith Foster (CWRU): ‘The Paradoxical Battle Narratives of Xenophon’s Hellenica’

 

Further School Events

Archaeology Nights Out (For all archaeology Staff and PG)
Thursday 29th October, from 5pm onwards at Bar Loco on Leazes Park Road; for more Information please contact Maria Duggan

 

Newcastle University Public Lectures

27th October, 5:30-6:45, Herschel Building, Curtis Auditorium
Paul Finkelman, (F Sallows Professor of Human Rights Law, University of Saskatchewan):  Fighting slavery and human trafficking: what we can learn from the American abolitionists.

29th October, 5:30-6:45, Herschel Building, Curtis Auditorium
Dr Alexandra Harris, (Senior Lecturer in English Literature, University of Liverpool): ‘Journeys in weatherland.’

 

Events Newsletter, week 19.10.15

Here is the first of our weekly events-newsletters. If you would like to promote an event through our newsletter please get in touch with me (m.ahlers1@ncl.ac.uk).

 

PGF Lunchtime Seminar

Wednesday 21st October, 1-2pm, Armstrong Building, Room 2.50
Xu Hong (UCD): ‘Did Philip intend to invade Italy: A case study of the application of the Realist theories to the Hellenistic international relations’

 

Research Seminars

Archaeology:
Archaeology Research Seminar:
Thursday 22nd October, 4-5pm, Armstrong Building, Room 2.16
Matthew Haysom (Newcastle University): ‘Reconstructing life on Late Bronze Age Crete’

Classics and Ancient History:
Classics and Ancient History Research Seminar
Wednesday 21st October, 5-7pm, Armstrong Building, Room 2.50
Edith Foster (CWRU): ‘The Paradoxical Battle Narratives of Xenophon’s Hellenica’

History:
Wednesday 21st October, 5-7pm, Armstrong Building, Room 1.04
Tim Strangleman (University of Kent): ‘Visualising Work in the Twentieth Century: Guinness and the Life and Death of an English Brewery’

 

Further School Events

Field trip organised by Dr Susanna Phillippo (please get in touch with her if you are interested)
Sunday 25th October: Corbridge/Corstopitum: Roman site and village (afternoon)
•       Corstopitum fort: important ‘crossroads’ settlement in Roman times, predating Hadrian’s Wall: extensive remains and a good museum including the famous ‘Corbridge Lion’; also the chance to walk along a Roman road! (the Stanegate);
•       Corbridge village: one of the Tyne valley’s most attractive, including partly Saxon church creatively reusing Roman stonework (also excellent tea shops and at least one historic pub!)

 

Newcastle University

Public Lecture:
20th October, 17:30-18:45, Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building
All changed, changed utterly
Clare Marx, President of the Royal College of Surgeons
(free admission, no pre-booking required)

22nd October, 17:30-18:45, Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building
Culture in question: ‘everyday participation’ and the contest over cultural value
Dr Andrew Miles, ESRC Centre for Socio-Cultural Change, University of Manchester

 

PGF Seminar – Wednesday 21st October 1pm

We are delighted to announce our first PGF seminar will be given by Xu Hong from UCD.
Wednesday 21st October in room 2.50 (Armstrong Building, next to the reading room) at 1pm.
Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available as always – please come along and support our first postgraduate guest speaker.
Xu Hong – ‘Did Philip intend to invade Italy? A case study of the application of the Realist theories to the Hellenistic international relations’
The PGF seminar series is a fantastic opportunity for postgraduate students to deliver papers about their current research or research interests. This has been a great success in past years, so this year we will be developing this series in order to offer more flexibility. Therefore, we offer you the opportunity to present either a 20 minute paper or an extended paper of 30-50 minutes. This could be at lunchtime (usually between 1pm and 2pm on Wednesdays) or perhaps, in the evening (with the opportunity for taking questions in the pub!). If you would like to give a presentation, please do get in touch. If have any other ideas regarding the structure of a seminar or seminar sessions which you would like to do, if you know of postgraduate students from another university you would like to invite to give a paper, or if you have any questions or ideas then please do get in touch – we are open to new thoughts and aim to be as flexible as possible!
We look forward to hearing from you.

Just a minute with… Dr James Gerrard

Dr James Gerrard is a lecturer in Roman archaeology here at Newcastle, he studied at Sheffield for his BA in Archaeology and Prehistory, before completing his MA (in Archaeological Research) and PhD (Pottery and the end of Roman Britain: the view from south-western Britain) at York. Check out his project blog: https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/luftonarchaeology/

After a busy couple of weeks of student inductions, he answered a few questions for us:

1. How did you come to be interested in your current area of research? 

As a child, I was inspired to study the Romans and the end of the Roman period by the novels of Rosemary Sutcliff (Eagle of the Ninth; The Lantern Bearers). I was also lucky enough to grow up in Somerset surrounded by Roman and early medieval sites.

2. What book are you currently reading? 

101 Dalmatians. Seriously. My daughter was reading it and I thought I’d regress to childhood. It’s a great story, charming, serious and in places downright ironic.

3. If you were a biscuit, what sort would you be?

A garibaldi (squashed fly) biscuit, or perhaps a ginger nut.

4. What has been the highlight of your week?

Meeting all the new students!

5. What is the most important life skill you learnt whilst being a PGR student?

That life is hard but you can survive its ups and downs.

6. What do you enjoy the most about being part of the history, classics and archaeology department at Newcastle?

It’s a great, friendly place with brilliant colleagues and excellent students.

7. What did you want to be as a child? 

An archaeologist

8. Can you describe your research in three words? 

No. Perhaps: End, Roman, Britain

9. What would your perfect day away from work be?

Somewhere wildish – the countryside or coast. It’d need to have no mobile signal and perhaps a nice pub for some food and drink.

10. What is your favourite movie quote?

‘Remember, short controlled bursts’ (Corporal Hicks in Aliens)

Thanks James! 

Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Research Student Symposium – confirmed speakers

We have now confirmed our list of speakers for the 2nd NEBARSS conference, to be held here at Newcastle University in November in the historic Armstrong Building. The full list can be seen below, or can be downloaded in PDF form here.

Dr Chris Fowler will give a keynote lecture on Friday 20th of November, his paper is titled:

‘The powers that be’? Powerful events in Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain

This keynote will be followed by a wine reception, nibbles, and a lively discussion. Saturday 21st is devoted to current research students, with postgraduate researchers from across Britain and Ireland presenting their work. There will also be a poster display highlighting new and exciting research projects.

Registration is now, and all those who wish to attend are required to register online here. http://webstore.ncl.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&catid=53&prodid=414

Registration is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students, postgraduate and early career researchers, lecturers and independent archaeologists, and members of the public who have an interest in prehistoric archaeology.

The registration fee includes the conference pack, tea/coffee throughout, lunch, the wine reception and associated nibbles! There is information on accommodation, travel, and things to do in Newcastle as well as instructions and how to find the Armstrong Building on our website here. (link) https://nebarss.wordpress.com/conference-archive/newcastle-2015/2015-conference-pack/ Please get in touch if you have any questions or queries.

We hope to see you in November for what promises to be an exciting and engaging symposium!