The present and future of classics in Australian universities

O tempora: The current presence of classics and ancient history in Australian and New Zealand public universities

“…Similarly, the Department of Classics at the University of Adelaide was ‘riding an expansionary wave’ in the 1970s. Yet, by this point, Latin and Greek were no longer a necessity for either matriculation or graduation from the Bachelor of Arts, so, while there was expansion, this was in the teaching of ‘in translation’ courses or the teaching of ancient history in English (Rankin, 1974: 70–71; Newbold, 2008: 4). These started out as sober political history units, with particular attention being paid to classical Greece in the 5th century BC, the Hellenistic age, Republican Rome, and the early Principate.…”

“…They were the origin of humanities in Australian and New Zealand higher education and have been a mainstay of the humanities until comparatively recent times, so existential threats to classics and ancient history and questioning of their general relevance clearly speak to the overall wellbeing of the humanities. In 1965, 1974, 1995(Dyer, 1965Rankin, 1974;Horsley et al, 1995;O'Sullivan and Maitland, 2007), surveys appeared regarding how classics and ancient history were taught in Australia and New Zealand. As incremental studies, they allow us to chart changes in what is offered.…”