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The Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics Series is central to the University's commitment to the teaching and spread of knowledge of Greek and Latin at a time when these languages are under increasing pressure in schools and HEIs. Hardie, Hunter and Oakley are General Editors of a series of Greek and Latin texts with commentaries aimed at a broad public readership, from the higher levels of school onwards. This series, now numbering 94 volumes in print, has, through its international adoption in schools and colleges, greatly broadened the range of texts which are accessible at all levels and changed the way these texts are read and studied. The series has huge brand recognition as `the Green and Yellows' (or `Green and Golds' in the USA) and has had considerable economic impact within the book market.
Papyrological research since 1993 by Oxford scholars has led to important new discoveries that have promoted increased public understanding and discussion of ancient literature and history. Research on documentary papyri has led to greater awareness of daily life in Oxyrhynchus, a Graeco-Roman provincial capital in central Egypt. The publication and translation of a new poem by Sappho has led to its inclusion in new translations of Sappho and ancient Greek lyric by leading publishers. Major Digital Humanities projects, Oxyrhynchus Online and Ancient Lives, have made the Oxyrhynchus papyri available to the public through the use of a web interface. Mass participation facilitated by the project has received wide publicity for increasing the engagement of the public with the methods and materials of scientific research. The website has had a major pedagogical impact through its use in schools.
Following on earlier research which re-examined the construction of modern Greece, in 2008-12 Beaton researched the contribution of Byron (and Romanticism) to the creation of the Greek nation-state in the early 19th century, and has published the results in his 2013 book (3.4). The principal impact of Beaton's researches has been to challenge traditional Greek cultural and social assumptions about the continuity of their national identity from the ancient world. The main pathway is his distinctive contribution to the 200-year Greek debate about their national identity which has been intensified by the current socio-economic crisis. The principal beneficiaries are the Greek people, as reflected in public discourse in their mass media, and the non-Greek public interested in these issues. Other nascent beneficiaries are the worldwide community of Byron enthusiasts through cultural enrichment in their knowledge and understanding of Byron's role in creating modern Greece.
Public understanding of the classical world has been informed and enhanced through new editions of the prestigious and internationally acclaimed Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD) and its spin-off publications. These key reference items, which have sold in high numbers and been translated into several languages, are available in specialist, university, college and public libraries worldwide, thereby benefitting a wide range of users, including the general public, students, school pupils, and fellow professionals.
The project makes accessible the history of philosophy `without any gaps' to a global audience. It capitalises on one of the Unit's research strengths, the history of philosophy, and brings this expertise to the general public maintaining a high level of intellectual rigour while making it accessible both intellectually and practically, thus maximizing reach. The public has access to the research through a series of podcasts (downloadable audio content) available on the project's website: www.historyofphilosophy.net, via software like iTunes. The podcasts are free to download and have been accessed more than 4 million times by thousands of listeners around the world. Because of their detail and format (often interviews) the podcasts convey advanced ideas and the fruits of recent research to this broad audience. The impact of the project lies in its ability to present our intellectual heritage in an accessible form, transforming the imaginations and sensibilities of individuals, enriching and expanding their lives and, given the nature of the topics discussed, informing and influencing their intellectual, cultural and personal development.
Research at Newcastle has been instrumental in developing an internationally recognised research collection of ancient Greek and Etruscan artefacts. Research insights directly influenced how the Shefton Gallery was presented in the Great North Museum: Hancock (GNM), and in particular informed the labelling and interpretation of the objects. By adding meaning and context to the artefacts, the research thus enabled museum staff to: i) deliver public lectures on the research collection thereby resulting in loans to national and international museums; and ii) develop educational resources and events (including worksheets, workshops and object loan boxes) to support innovative teaching in schools and universities. The research has therefore informed the understanding of the Ancient Greek and Etruscan past of the hundreds of thousands of visitors who visit the GNM annually as well as thousands of school-age children and students.
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Dr Sitaridou's research on Romeyka, an endangered Greek variety still spoken in mountainous Turkey, has had a profound effect on the self-image of the community, in particular its women, as well as on how Romeyka is viewed within Turkey. Both the actual fieldwork and the publicity have raised the prestige of the language and the community, which is the only realistic means of revitalisation. Dr Sitaridou's research, featured in international and national media, engaged audiences in both Turkey and Greece into discussions about identity and the "other". Globally, audiences were captivated by the plethora of Ancient Greek features in Romeyka.
Diogenes, created solely by Peter Heslin, is a freely distributed, open-source programme which enables access to all the major databases of classical Greek and Latin texts that have been in public circulation since the mid 1980s. Diogenes has had a significant and lasting impact on the education and cultural life of many of its tens of thousands of users. Some of these are professional classicists, who utilize it for both research and teaching. But a much larger part of the user population consists of students and non-academic readers of ancient Greek and Latin. Diogenes makes available to them the whole corpus of classical literature in the original languages. It also provides integrated morphological tools and lexica to support the needs of both language learners and more advanced readers. Diogenes has also had a significant and enduring impact on the movement towards open access publishing of digital resources for classics worldwide.
Research by Rutter and collaborators led to the production of Historia Numorum. Italy, a handbook of the coinages of pre-Roman Italy. HNItaly has become a tool for coin dealers, museum staff, and archaeological services alike, used both to identify, value and market goods, and to identify, label, study, and display holdings for public appreciation. In addition, HNItaly has been employed in the training of numismatists world-wide, including in the worlds of commerce and trade as well as public security.
Research undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM) highlights how limited resources and poor coordination at the heart of the Greek government (the core executive) have circumscribed Prime Ministerial authority and severely hampered the ability of successive governments to develop and implement policy. This issue is particularly pressing, as many of Greece's recent economic woes can be attributed to this weak `reform capacity'. The research had a direct impact by changing party policy and informing the drafting of two new laws on restructuring the Greek core executive, in 2011 and 2013 respectively. These changes have survived the turnover of two different governments. Research findings have also been given extra impetus, with the strengthening of the Greek core executive identified in 2012 as a key priority by Greece's international creditors — namely the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB).