Council of University Classical Departments


The Council of University Classical Departments, founded in 1969, is the association of university departments in the United Kingdom in which Classics and related subjects are taught and researched. As such, it is one of the principal voices of Classics in the UK, and the only one with a distinctive focus on Higher Education.
The Council is composed of a Representative of each member institution, and normally meets once a year in November in London. The Standing Committee, with a membership of around 18, normally meets three times a year in London. The Council has published an annual Bulletin since 1972.
In recent years CUCD has been increasingly active in defending and advancing the position of Classics in the UK. On 17 March 2005 the Council, together with Friends of Classics, hosted a reception for parliamentarians and others in the Palace of Westminster, to promote the cause of classical subjects. CUCD maintains strong links with other Arts, Humanities, and Law subject associations, as well as with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Classics. The former chair, Robin Osborne, has more than once spoken for the concerns of Humanities subjects in general.

Present and past chairs of CUCD

2018-present Prof. Helen Lovatt
2012-18 Prof. Greg Woolf
2006–12 Prof. R. G. Osborne
2003–6 Prof. D. G. J. Shipley
2001–3 Prof. Gillian Clark
1999–2001 Prof. Robert W. Sharples
1997–9 Prof. Christopher J. Rowe
1993–7 Prof. John S. Richardson
1991–3 Prof. P. E. Easterling
1988–91 Prof. T. P. Wiseman
1985–8 Prof. Donald C. Earl
1982–5 Prof. Trevor J. Saunders
1979–82 Prof. Fred Robertson
1976–9 Prof. Eric W. Handley
1973–6 Prof. George B. Kerfer
1972 Prof. H. C. Baldry