Tom Sinden gives his own insight into Democracy and Imperialism modules offered by the Classics department:

Democracy and Imperialism was a module that provided many different methods of teaching and learning, but perhaps more importantly, brought a two-and-a-half thousand year topic into the 21st century.

Dr. Michael Scott was rewarded an IATL Grant for Democracy and Imperialism, and he used it to provide as much interaction with this module as possible; whether it was seminars with Dr Paul Cartledge and Dr Robin Osbourne, both of whom provided essential texts for this topic, or going to the British Museum to view the much-discussed Parthenon Marbles.

An online 'Forum' was also open for any students of Democracy and Imperialism to get involved with, as after each lecture you had the chance to consolidate your knowledge in 'Q&A' style debates. All of these tasks contributed greatly to improving our general knowledge of this topic, and there was also the opportunity to present a short, specific area of this module to your fellow students.

Presentations occurred several times throughout the lesson, providing a break in the chronology of the lecture to indulge in the sociological, religious, and altogether more diverse areas of this subject. These exercises would prove beneficial in the latter part of the year, as a debate with Monash University in Australia was held via Skype, and although a friendly draw was decided, the knowledge that the Warwick students showed was clearly a testament to the structure and teaching of the module.

In terms of marking, the module, similarly to all many of them, was split 50:50 between essays and exams. An essay was expected in both Term 1 and 2, and these counted for 25% of the entire module grade, and a final exam sat in Term 3 factored for 50% of the mark. This meant that although many of the activities that I have previously mentioned were not formally assessed, but this did not prevent the module from encouraging everyone to get involved in both individual and group work, creating an atmosphere that was overall both positive, beneficial, and perhaps most importantly, fun.

Tom Sinden, 3rd Year Ancient History and Archaeology Student