Classics
Postgraduate experiences

Shane Wallace

Shane Wallace

Well, as is clear I’m a postgraduate student. I come from Limerick, Ireland, and I’m currently in the third year of my PhD, “The Freedom of the Greeks in the Early Hellenistic Period.” This looks at the political use of the term eleutheria (and assocaited words like autonomia, demokratia, etc.) as a way of defining and facilitating interaction between Greek cities and the successors to (and including) Alexander the Great.

So, why Edinburgh? Edinburgh is a fantastic place to live: all the amenities of a capital in a small and very beautiful city, with the countryside and highlands beckoning. But mainly I came for the University.

The department of Classics is a vibrant and stimulating place to study. The staff are helpful and engaging and the postgraduate students are friendly, warm, and fun. The department has also got great facilites. Beyond the main library we have our own well-stocked Classics library with a postgraduate computer lab next to it. The National Library of Scotland is also a life-saver.

The department has many students who have been in Edinburgh from undergraduate through PhD. This shows one of its great strengths: the ability to keep talented students by providing the supervision and facilities needed. The ability to attract foreign students like myself shows another; we even have students from as far away as Cyprus and Argentina. Edinburgh has been good to me: I was successful with funding applications and now receive grants from both the AHRC and the University.

Before I started study at Edinburgh I’d never been beyond Ireland and the UK, and even then I’d never been to Northern Ireland! Since then I’ve received a Marie Curie research fellowship of six months to live and research in Paris. I’ve also spent time in Athens (the British School at Athens is a great place) and I’ve presented papers in Greece, Belgium and the Netherlands. I’ve still yet to visit Northern Ireland. I’ll go one day.

Michael Cummings

Michael Cummings

After six years of studying at the University of Edinburgh I should
probably be considered a veteran. I graduated in Classics in 2004 and completed an MSc by research on Pindar the following year. Finally in 2006 I've started a PhD on the novel (a complete u-turn!). My millennial switch in topic is not as surprising as it may seem: in working on the novel I am pursuing an interest in metaphor sparked off by Pindar’s’ Odes.

I am especially interested in the relationship of metaphor with emotion (in particular cognitive metaphor) and with social and cultural factors such as science and philosophy. I chose Edinburgh originally since it was my local university. Since then, however, I have resisted two opportunities to jump ship (my MSc and PhD courses) and leave for (potentially) warmer climes. The staff and department have provided me with anaccessible and supportive environment in which to pursue my research interests.

One invaluable resource for my own research is the Classics library. This is a subject library and computer lab devoted exclusively to Classicists, which is open twenty four hours a day for Postgraduates. The staff are friendly and approachable, which is a great help to us Postgraduates.

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