Autumn Lecture Series 2025: Here I stand with Mary Beard

(Monday 17th November 2025)

When watching live, you can increase the quality of the video to 720p by pressing the ‘settings cog’ button on the video menu. You can also unmute and change the volume.

Dame Mary Beard is a preeminent British classicist, author, and television presenter, renowned for making ancient history accessible and engaging to a wide audience. Mary Beard stands for a rigorous, accessible, and critically engaged approach to history and the classics, with a strong commitment to challenging ingrained societal biases, particularly those related to gender and power. Educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, she became Professor of Classics at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Newnham College. 

Mary Beard’s extensive bibliography includes acclaimed works like  SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome and Women and Power: A Manifesto. She is a regular media commentator, celebrated for her insightful yet often provocative perspectives, and has presented numerous BBC documentaries, solidifying her role as a leading public intellectual and a refreshingly direct, challenging  and insightful voice in academia.

Please let us know what you thought of tonight’s lecture and submit any suggestions for future themes and speakers by following this link here.