‘We are thrilled to welcome our first official international partner to the ACE project: University College Dublin. This builds on our advocacy work with the Classical Association of Ireland Teachers’ Branch and complements our advisory role with the Irish Department of Education and Skills’ – Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson, ACE project
‘The School of Classics at University College Dublin is excited to become an international partner of the Advocating Classics Education project. In spring 2019 UCD launched a new outreach initiative, ‘Access Classics’, which has received the endorsement of the Department of Education in Ireland. Our fundamental aim is to introduce students to the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome in secondary schools, as well as further education and training programmes, across Ireland and Northern Ireland. Access Classics is rooted in a belief that everyone should be afforded the opportunity to explore the art, architecture, history, languages, literature, and philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome. The UCD Classical Museum, which houses the largest collection of Greek and Roman artefacts in Ireland, is open to the public and available to host school trips. We can also bring some of our museum artefacts to your school for handling sessions. Our efforts to date closely align with the mission statement of ACE and, as an ACE partner, we will continue to work to advocate for Classics and offer support for teachers and their students as they engage with the Junior Cycle, Senior Cycle, GCSE, and A-level curricula. Dr Bridget Martin has created a new Transition Year Unit for Classical Studies and UCD staff and students will continue to create materials to support the teaching of Classics. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with all current and future ACE partners and interested teachers and schools. If you would like to find out more about Access Classics, please email our general inbox [access.classics@ucd.ie], or contact us individually: Dr Christopher Farrell, Ms Tasneem Filaih, and Dr Bridget Martin. For more information on the UCD Classical Museum, please contact Dr Jo Day. You can also follow the School of Classics on Twitter (@ClassicsUCD) and in the Autumn trimester we will be launching our new website accessclassics.ie to support our outreach efforts’ – Dr Christopher Farrell, Assistant Professor in Greek History and Culture, University College Dublin.
Artefact Handling with the UCD Outreach Team
