About the Project

The ubiquitous presence of media in our everyday life, together with the rapid advances of digital technologies, has generated profound changes in how we use ancient history, as well as how we interpret and interact with the past and the present.

Media and Ancient History (MAH) explores the intersections between ancient historical texts and contemporary media forms and practices. This initiative, along with the Tweeting the War project (TtW), has been supported by strategic funds of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Cardiff University, promoting intellectual curiosity, transformational technologies, and cross-sectoral digitised innovation.

How are historical texts, ideas, concepts and artefacts of the ancient world being received, reconfigured and (mis)used in contemporary media forms, including film, (online) games, broadcast and digital media?
How are media affordances, spaces and practices shaping the ways in which we interact, talk about and react to important events of the past and the present?

Media and Ancient History is a collaborative research and public engagement project, drawing on theories, concepts and methods from ancient history, media discourse analysis, cultural theory and sociolinguistics. It hosts and promotes cross sectoral partnerships for the benefit of academic and non-academic communities. It is of interest to scholars, students of all educational levels, and those interested in ancient history, classical reception, media discourse analysis, cultural studies, sociolinguistics, political theory, and digital humanities. Promoting media literacy and critical engagement with ancient history, MAH also hosts learning resources for educators who wish to enthuse students to study ancient history in innovative and exciting ways.