Professor Ray Laurence

Professor of Roman History and Archaeology in the School of European Culture and Languages at the University of Kent

I joined Kent in April 2010. Kent is very different to other Universities. It is an institution that supports great ideas and even dreams. The big idea for me was that we can transform the study and understanding of ancient Rome for students and the public.  In the last four years, I’ve developed new degree programmes for undergraduates and postgraduates, published six books and seven articles, and learnt so much from my colleagues and students. Working with Cognitive, an animation studio in Folkestone, I created animated films about Roman children. I am proud to have argued successfully that Canterbury needed to have a museum dedicated to its Roman origins. Most excitingly, Kent supported my plan to have a Rome campus and we are now in our second year of having Kent students studying in the Eternal City. This year is busy: a 50th anniversary lecture that also marks the bi-millennium of the death of Rome’s first Roman emperor; a book to finish; a collaborative project with Canterbury’s poet laureate – Dan Simpson; my next book to finish; and new research projects on the city of Rome to develop.