Ancient Languages are being removed from the School of History, Archaeology, and Religion (SHARE) at Cardiff University. This is an affront to our classical education. We should be working to bring these languages outside of private education to make them accessible to everyone who wishes to learn and expand their knowledge of the ancient world.

Despite this, Cardiff University is actively hindering our aim and as a result is aiding the snobbery of classics that has plagued this subject for years.

By no longer offering ancient languages, Cardiff University will put people off studying here and will devalue the worth of an Ancient History degree at Cardiff. As well as this, it has limited postgraduate opportunities, and has stopped many from staying to do a postgraduate degree at Cardiff.

The explanation that lecturers have been provided by the head of SHARE is that languages modules are not receiving sufficient sign ups. Rather than the suggested reason that students at Cardiff University are not interested in studying ancient languages, perhaps it is that ancient languages modules are offered only to Religion and single honours Ancient History students (whose numbers are rather small). If language modules were offered to History, joint honours, and Archaeology students as well, they would undoubtably be oversubscribed. 

Now is the time to act before ancient languages are eroded completely from our curriculum. This plea comes in collaboration with lecturers and students at Cardiff University. A great number of lecturers and classical experts from other institutions have also emailed in to Cardiff stating that they think this change is incredibly harmful to Cardiff students and the subject as a whole.

Sign this petition so we can prove to SHARE that students are interested in the study of ancient languages and wish to see its continuation as an integral part to Ancient History and Religion degrees.