The Classical Association (CA) is an educational organisation which aims to promote and widen access to the study of classical subjects in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1903, the CA supports and advances classical learning in schools, colleges, universities and local areas, and it has a wide membership.[4] The CA is a member of the Council for Subject Associations and is a registered charity.[5]
The Association was founded on 19 December 1903 at a public meeting held at University College London, and its objects are defined in its constitution as:[6]
The advancement of education by the promotion, development and maintenance of classical studies
To increase public awareness of the contribution and importance of classics to education and public life.
It was founded with the name "The Classical Association of England and Wales" but the name was soon changed to "The Classical Association".[7]
The incumbent Chair of the Classical Association Council is Professor Douglas L. Cairns, FHEA, FRSE, FBA, MAE.
The Association is a major provider of grants to classical projects in the UK. It provides financial support for outreach and engagement projects, which seek to increase access to classics, widen participation and pursue equality, diversity and inclusion objectives in UK classics.[8] It awarded more than £2 million of grants between 2003 and 2023.[9]
The CA sponsors an annual Conference, which is hosted each year by a different UK university and brings together everybody from career classicists to teachers, independent researchers, students of all ages and anybody interested in the ancient world, to share research, exchange knowledge and professional practice and celebrate the work of the classics community.
The Classical Association Teaching Board (CATB), made up of teachers, examiners, subject representatives, academics, curriculum providers and practitioners, was established in 2015 to support teachers of classical subjects and ancient history at all levels. The CA provides professional development, resources, grants and support networks to teachers and students, as well as organising several annual competitions and running its own podcast, The Classics Podcast.
Across England and Wales, the CA has more than 25 affiliated local branches, which organise a variety of classical activities and have their own membership and communities.
The Association publishes three journals: The Classical Review, The Classical Quarterly and Greece & Rome, and, following its merger with the Joint Association of Classical Teachers in 2015, the CA took over publication of JACT's journals, the Journal of Classics Teaching (online only) and Omnibus.[10] The CA also commissions titles in the New Surveys in the Classics series (published by Cambridge University Press).
The Association celebrated its centenary in 2003 by publishing a book, The Classical Association: the First Century 1903–2003, edited by Dr Christopher Stray; this includes a history of the association and studies of various aspects of its activities over its first century, including an account of the Classical Association of Scotland.[11]
Stray, Christopher (2003). The Classical Association: the First Century 1903-2003. Classical Association. ISBN0-19-852874-4.
Philip Hooker, The Presidents, Greece & Rome Vol. 50, The Classical Association: The First Century 1903-2003 pp. 183–190
The Manchester and District Branch of the Classical Association, 1904 - 2004. Manchester: Manchester and District Branch of the Classical Association, 2004
