St Anne’s is the home of choice for the brightest and most ambitious students, including those from underrepresented groups.
St Anne’s is one of Oxford’s largest colleges, with over 800 students. Our Fellows’ world leading research ranges across the arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, and physical, life and medical sciences.
Our diverse, inclusive community extends around the globe through our alumnae, who build on their experiences here to change the world for the better.
Situated within 5 acres of tranquil leafy grounds, St Anne’s enjoys a unique atmosphere in which to hold any conference, dinner or special event.
The College has a strong classical tradition, with three tutors in the Literae Humaniores School responsible for language and literature, ancient history and philosophy respectively: Prof. Matthew Leigh, Prof. Amber Carpenter, and Dr Ed Bispham. They are supported in their work by two Stipendiary Lecturers specialising in the teaching of Greek and Latin Languages and Literature: Dr Holly Hunt and Dr Victoria Hodges. We also bring in a Graduate Development Scholar every two years and are very glad recently to have been joined by Grace MacDonald, who took a Double-Major in Classics and Chemistry at Yale University before committing herself to the study of Latin didactic poetry. We relish working together and pioneering a creative and pluralistic approach to our subject.
Students are admitted to read Classics, as well as the Joint Schools of Classics and English, Classics and Modern Languages and Classics and Oriental Studies.
St Anne’s admits students for all forms of the Oxford Classics degree. Many of our students arrive with an A-Level or equivalent in both Latin and Greek or solely in in one of the two languages. We are also strongly committed to Classics Course II, which allows students with no school preparation in the ancient languages to study one language intensively for their first public examination and, should they choose to do so, to take up the second language for finals. We have an established and highly effective programme for ensuring that students studying either language intensively from beginner’s level do so with success.
St Anne’s Classics students form a close-knit community, and there is ample opportunity for students of all years to interact through the activities of the St Anne’s Classics Society. This promotes termly guest lectures, a joint Research Symposium with Brasenose College, social events, and occasional reading parties to Cornwall and Naples. Students may also apply for grants to support travel in Greece and Italy, to attend the Summer Schools of the British Schools in Rome and Athens, or to join an archaeological dig.
We are particularly proud of two recent initiatives that have had a transformational impact. Throughout the academic year, students and tutors alike meet once a week for a Classical Reception Reading Group in which we read together and discuss pieces of post-classical literature that respond to ancient literature and art from a variety of cultures. Once a term, we. also host a gathering in which tutors and students choose a work from any language and provide a creative translation into any language. Across the 6 years, Lockdown Translations Unlocked has heard translations from 24 different languages. In Trinity Term 2026, St Anne’s also hosted a Faculty seminar on Classics and Anthropology to which four members of our teaching team contributed papers and which was attended by a good number of our current graduate and undergraduate students.
Classics students at St Anne’s come from a very wide range of educational backgrounds both within Britain and abroad (Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Italy, United States). Every year we also host between two and five Junior Year Abroad students, who join us primarily but not exclusively from universities in the United States. Thanks to the generous donation of a former student, students applying from the Comprehensive sector, Sixth-Form or FE Colleges are eligible to apply for a Classics bursary.
We have an established record of academic success in Classics with students regularly taking Firsts and winning University prizes. Many have gone on to undertake graduate study, but the range of professions in which our former students have enjoyed success is remarkable.
Stipendiary Lecturer in Ancient History and Tutorial Fellow at Brasenose College
Supernumerary Fellow
Stipendiary Lecturer in Classics
Emeritus Fellow
Professor, Fellow and Tutor of Classical Languages
Chair, Canis Amabilis
St Anne’s is a down-to-earth, friendly and independent-minded college that takes people for what they are. It is modern in its outlook and architecture and open to the world, informal and yet academically demanding.