School Tours

Excursions to the Museum

The ANU Classics Museum contains over 600 objects from the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. Students gain a taste of everyday life in the ancient world through some of its fascinating objects and their stories, from surgical instruments and baby feeders to coins of Cleopatra and Nero. The museum features examples of ancient material culture spanning over 5000 years of history from Roman Britain, the Near- and Mid-East, Northern Africa, and Europe. The museum is central to the student learning experience in Classical Studies at ANU, but also provides primary and secondary students with an engaging, hands-on opportunity to explore ancient Mediterranean cultures.

The Classics Museum’s collection is relevant to a wide range of disciplinary areas, including: Ancient History, Art History, Archaeology, Languages (Ancient and Modern), Gender Studies, Society, Politics, Drama, Food and Leisure, and more.

For primary and early high school students, the museum provides a fun-filled introduction to the ancient world, and the use of material culture as historical evidence.

For upper secondary students, the collection provides opportunities for in-depth exploration of specific subject areas. Bespoke tours or short talks for Year 11 and 12 students on specialist subjects by academic staff are also available upon request and subject to availability. Sample topics include: Ancient Greek Theatre; Greek Technology; the Legacy of Greece; Alexander the Great; Cleopatra; Agrippina the Younger; Pompeii; the Fall of Rome; An Introduction to Latin.

Object-Based Learning

The ANU Classics Museum also boasts a brand new Object-Based Learning Room (adjacent to the museum), housing the Professor Graeme Clarke Teaching Collection. The hands-on collection stems from archaeological excavations undertaken at the Hellenistic site of Jebel Khalid in Syria. Workshops provide students with the opportunity to handle ancient objects including ceramics, glass, metals and sculptural fragments representing the everyday domestic and cultural life of the residents of an ancient town on the banks of the Euphrates. Handling ancient objects allows students of all ages, skill levels and abilities to connect with history in a tangible and joyful way. In this way, teachers and students gain first-hand knowledge of object-based learning, with skills that can be transferred to other areas of the curriculum.

PROGRAM	YEAR GROUPS	DURATION	CAPACITY	COST
Tour and hands-on experience	K-2	30 mins	Up to 20 students	$5 per student
Tour and hands-on experience	3-6	45 mins	Up to 30 students	$7 per student
Tour and hands-on experience in the object-based learning lab	7-10	1.5 hours	Up to 30 students	$12 per student
Tour and hands-on experience in the object-based learning lab (This program includes a pre-visit consulation with the curator in order to tailor tour content to your class focus area)	11 and 12	1.5 hours	Up to 20 students	$15 per student
Talk by academic staff member on specialised subject area (subject to availability)	11 and 12	30 mins total (20min talk, 10mins Q&A)	Up to 20 students	Flate rate $50 add-on

All prices listed are inclusive of GST.
All proceeds from tours go directly to supporting the Classics Museum.

Visits to your school

Schools visits are also available in the ACT and surrounding regions of NSW, where the Curator of the Classics Museum can bring a tray of items to your school for object-based learning.
Objects are selected to be appropriate for the year level and educational context, and non-allergenic museum-grade gloves are provided.

PROGRAM	YEAR GROUPS	DURATION	CAPACITY	COST
Incursion	K-10	45 mins	Up to 30 students per session & up to 5 sessions per day	$5 per student
Incursion	11 and 12	1.5 hours	Up to 20 students per session & up to 2 sessions per day	$10 per student

PROGRAM

YEAR GROUPS

DURATION

CAPACITY

COST

Incursion

K-10

45 mins

Up to 30 students per session
& up to 5 sessions per day

$5 per student

Incursion

11 and 12