Classics at the University of Otago

10/05/2026

A number of our Classics students graduated this weekend in Dunedin, including Dr Matt Watts and longtime English and Linguistics (and other things) administrator Liz Lammers. Congratulations to all, and thanks for letting us be a part of your journey!

19/03/2026

Our next Classical Association lecture will take place next Thursday, 26th March, at 6pm in BURNS 1 lecture theatre.

Professor David Tombs will be the speaker, on the topic ’Seneca’s Account of Maecenas Sitting on the Cross'.

It promises to be a most informative evening, and we hope to see many of you there.

18/03/2026

The vital (contemporary) lessons in Ovid's Metamorphoses. As if we needed any further excuse for reading Ovid than that Augustus banished him from Rome and banned his books!

Metamorphoses, an ancient compendium of Greek myths, has surprising parallels with contemporary concerns, from climate change to gender-based violence.

11/02/2026

Our first Classical Association lecture of the year will take place next Thursday 19 February at 6pm in the Otago Business School (the Commerce Building), Room G.17.

We have a visiting Professor from Italy, Prof. Antonio Stramaglia, and it promises to be a most interesting evening: "The 'Apuleian' Cupid and Psyche before Apuleius."

We will have the normal drinks and nibbles in the Humanities Common Room, and there will be a walking group from the Burns Building to the lecture theatre if you are unsure where to go.

We hope to see many of you there!

08/02/2026

We're very excited to announce that our online Greek and Latin papers are now available to students in Year 12 or Year 13 at school. For information on the papers themselves, click here and follow the links: https://www.otago.ac.nz/classics/language-classes
For information on the Head Start programme at Otago, check out the attached images. And for further information, please email Assoc. Prof. Gwynaeth McIntyre ([email protected]) or the Classics Prgamme Administrator ([email protected]).
For general questions about online Otago study for high school students, please contact Greg Heller ([email protected])

13/01/2026

Otago is one of the few universities in Aotearoa offering Ancient Greek and Latin. Distance learning options now available at all undergraduate levels (and Honours). For further information, please check out our website: https://www.otago.ac.nz/classics/language-classes Students enrolled at other domestic institutions may wish to speak with a staff member in their local Classics/Ancient History department to discuss how Otago's ancient languages can fit into their undergraduate study.

10/12/2025

Ka pai to all our Graduates yesterday! We had such a great time celebrating with you all that we forgot to take more pictures. Here are just a few, but I know many of you had family taking pictures so if you have some you would like to share with us, do send them along.
- edited with some more images from the procession and brunch. Thanks for sending those along Kristina!

28/11/2025

Ka pai Matt! Congratulations on submitting your PhD thesis entitled "Metz Epitome: Translation and Historical Commentary." It was great to join you in celebrating your submission with the ringing of the bell. You might win the prize for getting the loudest ring out of it!

20/11/2025

When our very own Assoc. Prof. Dan Osland isn't playing in the dirt in Spain or running around Greece teaching students, he's composing scholarly brilliance. Ka Pai Dan!

05/11/2025

Our own Associate Professor Gwynaeth McIntyre featuring in the Uni news for her important research on the Roman author Suetonius. She's currently "on tour" as part of her research and study leave, so it's truly a project of global significance. Congratulations on this Prestigious Writing Grant!

An Otago Classics scholar will be taking a fresh look at author Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly referred to as Suetonius, a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial period of the Roman Empire.