Winter School in the Humanities at the foot of the Acropolis

From 1-5 February 2010, the four strategic partner universities of Groningen, Ghent, Uppsala and Goettingen (U4) organized a Winter School in the Humanities, entitled Identity and Cultural Transfer in Antiquity. The venue for this Winter School was the Dutch School of Classical Studies, which is located right at the foot of the Acropolis, impressive as always.

More than 30 PhD students and staff members of the four universities attended to discuss their projects, thesis subjects and methods. On one day the School was hosted by the German Archaeological Institute, located in the centre of Athens. One of the five days was dedicated to excursions to inter alia the brand new Acropolis Museum, the classical Kerameikos cemetery as well as the ancient docks of Athens in the harbour of Piraeus.

All the participants agreed that such a Winter School is very useful in many respects, providing the opportunity to compare research techniques and methods in ancient culture, to present your research in a language other than your own, as well as interdisciplinary approach. Finally, all agreed that this initiative by the Universities of Groningen and Ghent should be repeated next winter, probably at another location where the subject (Classical Antiquity) meets the venue in as rewarding a way as it did in Athens.