Alexander Bell (Classical Lit and Civilisation 2014; MA Classics 2016)

I absolutely adored my time spent at Birmingham and had an incredible time learning about ancient history and mythology with the fantastic staff there, including Dr Elena Theodorakopoulos, Dr Andrew Bayliss, and the wonderful Dr Niall Livingstone who I sorely miss. I look back on those years so fondly and owe a huge amount to the university and the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology. I’m very happy to say that I’m continuing to use the degree as part of my professional life! I’ve worked in museums for six years now, having recently left Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery as I moved up to Scotland. I am presently working as a Gallery Assistant at the Glasgow Museum Resource Centre where Glasgow Life stores its collections not currently on display. This year I hosted my first Specialist Tour as part of LGBTQ+ History Month: ‘The Queer Divine’.

It’s been such a treat to open my old books from when I was studying at Birmingham as part of my research for this tour. Seeing my annotations and notes attached to them filled me with nostalgia so I felt compelled to share and say a big thank you for what my degree has given me!