Department of History and Classics at Acadia University

Choosing to study history at Acadia will give you the capacity to understand our modern world and th

Our Department houses the disciplines of History, Classics and Comparative Religion. Rich in diversity, the Department offers an impressive array of courses on the peoples and cultures - past and present - that make up our world. Classics studies the languages, literatures, history and society of Greco-Roman antiquity, and offers courses in the archaeology of ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean wo

02/03/2026

Our very own Dr. Natalie Swain was featured on CBC Radio discussing Acadia’s Centre for Critical Play arcade room. You can read and listen to the press release here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/acadia-centre-video-game-research-9.7069676

01/22/2026

Dr. Natalie Swain is presenting a BAC Talk today, entitled: “Video Games and Greek Mythology: Perceived Truth and Intergenerational Trauma in Returnal (2021).”

Video games blend art and myth by linking compelling narratives, archetypal characters, and immersive worlds to retell, reinterpret, and perhaps create new myths.

The talk will be in the quiet room of the Vaughan library Thursday Jan 22 from 11:30-12:30 and will include a field trip to the Acadia Centre for Critical Play (!). All are welcome.

01/20/2026

Join us tomorrow, Wednesday January 21st at 11:30 for Dr. Rombough’s brown bag tall, titled “shades of grey: producing textiles and race in renaissance Italy”. BAC 401. Everyone is welcome

01/12/2026

Dr. Swain has yet another publication now available!
How are comics and Latin elegy — a genre of Roman sexual poetry over 2000 years old — related? Our own Natalie J. Swain (she/her) discusses precisely this in her new book, Narrative in Ovid’s Amores: Comics Theory, Elegy, and Segmentary Narrative. In this, her first book, she explores the way that the modern medium of comics can help us better understand the narrative construction of Latin elegy, opening new insights into this ancient genre.

The book page is here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/narrative-in-ovids-amores-9781350407244/

01/06/2026

A special issue of the academic journal Mouseion and guest edited by our own Dr. Natalie Swain has just been released! Entitled “Breaking New Ground with Comics and the Ancient Mediterranean World”, this special issue examines intersections of modern comics and the ancient Mediterranean world. Check it out here: https://utppublishing.com/toc/mous/21/1