Associate Professor Ralph Häussler MA, PhD (Lond.)

• Senior Lecturer in Roman history and archaeology
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA)
• Teaching on-campus and distance learner undergraduates and postgraduates in various BA and MA programmes:
  • for example, Ancient History, Celtic Studies, Archaeology, Classics, Latin, Classical Civilisation, Ancient Civilisations, and our unique faculty-wide multidisciplinary MA Ancient Religions.
• PhD Supervision on many aspects of ancient religion, Roman history and archaeology and Celtic studies. I am currently supervising three PhD students as lead supervisor: Stuart Rawson on "Diverging concepts of the soul in Classical Greece", Susan Leybourne on "Chaldean Oracles and Jewish Mysticism" and Steven Turner on the reception of Greco-Roman mythology in Roman Britain.
• I am Unfair Practise officer of the Faculty of Humanities and Performing Arts responsible for investigating cases of plagiarism and collusion
• The organisation of the lectures of the Lampeter and West Wales Branch of the Classical Association
• The organisation of the interdisciplinary Sacred Ways Project of the Faculty
• The organisation of conferences, of the Classics summer school and other events at UWTSD's Lampeter campus.
• UWTSD's representative on the Executive of the AHRC Celtic Doctoral School.
• Research-active: see below

Qualifications

• 2012 - Habilitation in Ancient History, University of Osnabrück, Germany
• 1997 - Doctor of Philosophy in Ancient History & Archaeology, University College London, University of London (supervisors: Michael H. Crawford and Sue Hamilton)
• 1992 - Master of Arts in Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, University of London
• 1991 - BA Equivalent in Ancient History, Roman Archaeology and Classical Archaeology at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main

Previous employment (selection)

• Lecturer in Ancient History at Osnabrück University, Germany (2004-2013)
• Postdoc of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
• Research Assistant at Oxford University (1998-2000)
• Visiting Lecturer at St Mary's University College (University of Surrey (1998/9)
• Teaching at various HE and FE institutions, like UCL, Birkbeck College, City Lit London, Richmond College.

I am a member of various scholarly societies and associations:

• HEA - Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• CBA - Council for British Archaeology
• BES - British Epigraphy Society
• SPRS - Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
• AIEGL - Association d'internationale d'épigraphie grecque et latine
• EAA - European Association of Archaeologists
• ACCORDIA - Research Institute on ancient Italy
• Altertumsverein Worms (local history society of Germany's oldest city)

I am a senior lecturer for Roman history and archaeology, having previously taught at London, Oxford, Osnabrück, Mannheim and Vechta. Based on this diverse experience, I try to provide research-led teaching in a number of fields, combining different disciplines: Roman history from early Rome to late Antiquity, Roman epigraphy, the archaeology of Iron Age Europe and the Roman provinces, and ancient Celtic civilisations. In research and teaching, I use anthropological and sociological theories and concept to enhance our understanding of the ancient world. I have a very special interest in our MA Ancient Religions which is a unique course allowing students to study an unprecedented diversity of ancient religions.

I am currently finishing a volume on the sacred landscapes in the ancient world, a monograph on the sacred landscapes of southern Gaul, and a monograph on Celtic religion, in addition to a number of articles and chapter, like a chapter on southern Gaul for the new Wiley-Blackwell Companion on Roman Archaeology.

PhD supervision: I am currently supervising three PhD students as first/lead supervisor on rather diverse subjects, from diverging concepts of the soul in Classical Greece, Chaldean Oracles and Jewish Mysticism, to the reception of Greco-Roman mythology in Roman Britain.

In 2018/2019, my main modules are (plus additional teaching on other team-taught modules):

• At level 7, I am primarily responsible this year for the Theory and Methodology for the Study of Ancient Religions module (CLCL7003), for Religious Life in the Roman empire (CLAH7017) and for the Higher Advanced Latin module Caesar's de bello Gallico (HPAH7001-3).
• At levels 5 and 6, I am teaching modules on Regional History and Heritage, Ancient Celtic Civilisation, and Romano-Celtic religion in 2018/2019.
• At level 4, I am teaching modules on Roman history and literature and Connections to Antiquity.

Past modules in the Faculty of Humanities and Performing Arts included Roman Britain, Religions in Antiquity, Exploring sustainability in the ancient world, Intermediate Latin 1, Intensive Latin 2, Roman epigraphy, and From Village to Empire: Introduction to Roman history.

My major research interests include:

Ancient Religions:
This is one of my major research areas at the moment.

• One focus is on the impact of Roman imperialism on local religions across the Roman provinces. In the environment of polytheistic religions, one expects to see religious freedom and the existence of numerous religions (or 'faiths') side-by-side. But there is religious change and we need to understand why and who are the social agents in this process. Among others, I am working on the question of religious change in Gaul, Britain, and Cisalpine Gaul.
• Since 1998, I have been the coordinator for the international research project FERCAN (Fontes epigraphici religionum Celticarum antiquarum) which has resulted in a number of publications on 'Celtic' religion - Iron Age and Roman period - and which will result in the corpus-FERCAN, a major publication on the evidence for religions, cults and Celtic theonyms/epithets.
• Another major focus are sacred landscapes, both in Iron Age and Roman Gaul, but also in a multi-disciplinary and diachronoic perspective. The results of two major events on sacred landscapes that I organised in Lampeter in 2014 and 2016 are now due to come out in a volume published by Oxbow Books.
• I have also started a research project on the role of the priestesses of the imperial cult - the flaminicae and archiereiai - in the Roman empire.

Another major area of research is the transformation of identities, behavioural and societal patterns, material culture from the Iron Age to the Roman period.

• Taking into account anthropological and sociological approaches, I aim for a better understanding how and why people's lives and their identities, ethnicities, languages and behaviours were affected by Roman imperialism with special focus on the individual social agent.
• My research focuses on a number of regions of the ancient world, from Italy, Gaul, Germany to Britain.

This also leads us to the theme of 'Globalisation' in the ancient world.

• People have always been exchanging goods over vast distances, but when does an entangled, interconnected world become a 'globalised' world. Certainly, in the Roman period, we do not just see an entangled world, but a phenomenon which resembles much more aspects of modern-day globalisation, how to think about your own place in a 'global' world, and how to shape one's identity. Apart from a number of publications on the subject, Matt Cobb and I also organised a three-day conference on the subject in May 2018: see conference website.

Literacy and Memory is another theme of research.

• Both are also closely connected to ancient religions and cultural change: for example, how do people preserve their traditions, their myths and cult practices in a rapidly changing world? The theme of social and collective memory was the theme of a workshop which I organised, together with Günther Schörner from Vienna and Thomas Schierl from Bonn at the Theoretical Roman Archaeology conference in Edinburgh in 2018.

Further international collaboration:

• Member of the management committee of the EU E-Cost Action ISCH COST Action IS1407 "Ancient European Languages and Writings (AELAW)” (link).
• ArchÉpigraph / Épigraphie spatiale - a project organised by the University of Franche-Comté, Besancon (responsible: Marie-Jeanne Ouriachi and François Favory). The aim is to study spatial dynamics in Roman Gaul in the longue durée; the first phase focuses on the territory of Nîmes/Nemausus.
• 2005-2007: postdoc research fellow in in the project "Reichs- und Provinzialreligion" organised by Jörg Rüpke.
• 1993-2000, collaborator on the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World.
• and many more...

See also the section on Publications and Academic Interests

• Celtic and Roman religions / religious developments
• Globalisation in the ancient world
• Sacred landscapes in the ancient world
• Roman history
• Iron Age Europe
• Social and collective memory in the Roman world
• Literacy in the ancient world
• Ancient languages, Latin, Celtic, etc.
• Iron Age ('Celtic') art and iconography
• Archaeology and history of the Roman provinces

Publications (Selection)

Monographs & conference proceedings

In preparation. M. Cobb and R. Haeussler (eds), Re-thinking globalisation in the ancient world (proceedings of our 2018 conference, Lampeter).

In preparation. R. Haeussler, Keltische Religion (Religionen der Menschheit, 18). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer (Welt­religionen) expected: 2020. 

In preparation: R. Haeussler, Corpus-F.E.R.C.AN. (Fontes Epigraphici Religionis Celticae Antiquae), fascicules for Britannia and Gallia Narbonensis. Wien/Vienna: published by the ÖAW, The Austrian Academy of Science. 2 vols. of c.800 pages each.

2019. G.F. Chiai and R. Haeussler (eds), Sacred Landscapes in Antiquity: Creation, Transformation, Manipulation. Oxford, Oxbow Books (Link to Oxbow website) (coming soon!)

2019 R. Haeussler, Transformation of the sacred land­scape in Gallia Narbonensis (coming soon in 2019)

2017. R. Haeussler and A. C. King (eds), Celtic religions in the Roman period: personal, local, global. Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications (vol. XX).

2013.  Becoming Roman? Diverging Identities and Experiences in Ancient Northwest Italy (University College London Institute of Archaeology Publications) Left Coast Press Inc., California. ().

2012. G.F. Chiai, R. Haeussler and C. Kunst (edd.), Interpretatio. Religiöse Kommuni­kation zwischen Globalisierung und Partikularisierung (proceedings of the conference at Osnabrück University, 9th-11th September 2010). Roma: Mediterraneo Antico.

2008. R. Haeussler (ed.), Romanisation et épigraphie. Études interdisciplinaires sur l’acculturation et l’iden­tité dans l’Empire romain, Montagnac (Éditions Monique Mergoil, Archéologie et His­toire Romaine, 17). (cf. www.editions-monique-mergoil.fr).

2007-2008. R. Haeussler and A.C. King (eds)  Continuity and Innovation in Religion in the Roman West, 2 volumes. Portsmouth, Rhode Island (JRA supplement volume, no. 67.1).

Articles in international peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings

Forthcoming 2020 “Globalisation in the Roman World and beyond”, in Journal for Global History – in preparation.

Forthcoming 2019 “Gallia Narbonensis”, in Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Roman Archaeology, 2 vols., ed. by Barbara Burrell (in preparation).

Forthcoming 2019 “Roman Gaul”, in Oxford Bibliographies. Oxford University Press.

Forthcoming 2019 “Apollo Cunomaglos – Lord of the Wolves” in F. Pina Polo and S. Alfayé (edd.), Homenaje Paco Marco. Zaragoza (in print).

Forthcoming 2019/2020 “Bricolage and Code Switching in Religious Communication in Southern Gaul“. In A. Gavrielatos (ed.) Theorizing Contacts in the Roman Empire. – in preparation.

2017. "Galli", in The People of Ancient Italy, ed. by G. Farney and G. Bradley. Berlin: DeGruyter, pp. 719-754.

2017. (together with A. C. King): "Crefyddau Celtaid yn y cyfnod Rhufeinig: personol, lleol a byd-eang. — Celtic religion in the Roman period: personal, local, and global" in Celtic religions in the Roman period, ed. by R. Haeussler and A.C. King. Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, pp. 1-36.

2017. "The importance of location: religious inscriptions from archaeological contexts", in Celtic religions in the Roman period, ed. by R. Haeussler and A.C. King. Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, pp. 339-62.

2015. “A landscape of resistance? Cults and sacred landscapes in Western Cisalpine Gaul”, in: Trans Padum … Vsque Ad Alpes. Roma tra il Po e le Alpi: dalla romanizzazione alla romanità. Atti del convegno Venezia 13-15 maggio 2014 (Studi e ricerche sulla Gallia Cisalpine, 26), ed. by Giovannella Cresci Marrone. Roma: Edizione Quasar, pp. 261-286.

2014. “Differences in the epigraphic habit in the rural landscapes of Gallia Narbonensis”, in Öffentlichkeit – Monument – Text. XIV Congressus Internationalis Epigraphiae Graeca et Latinae, 27.-31. Augusti MMXII. Akten (Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Auctarium, series nova, XIV), ed. by Werner Eck and Peter Funke. Berlin: De Gruyter, pp. 323-345.

2014. “Manipulating the Past. Re-thinking Greco-Roman accounts on ‘Celtic’ religion”, in Fraude, Mentira y Engaños en el Mundo Antiguo, ed. by Franciso Marco Simón, Francisco Pina Polo and José Remesal Rodríguez. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona (Colleccio Instrumenta, vol. 45), pp. 35-54.

2013. “Religion and individualisation in Southern Gaul”, in: W. Spickermann (ed.), Keltische Götternamen als individuelle Option? Celtic Theonyms as Individual Option? Akten des 11. internationalen Workshops „Fontes Epigraphici Religionum Celticarum Antiquarum“ vom 19.-21. Mai 2011 an der Universität Erfurt. Osnabrück (Osnabrücker Reihe zu Altertum und Antike Rezeption, vo. 19), pp. 185-211.

2012. “Interpretatio indigena. Re-inventing local cults in a global world”, Mediterraneo Antico 15 (1-2), 143-174.

2012. “Hero Cults in Britain and Gaul between Iron Age and Principate”, in: P. Anreiter, E. Bánffy, L. Bartosiewicz, W. Meid and C. Metzner-Nebelsick (edd.),Archaeological, Cultural and Linguistic Heritage. Festschrift for Erzsébet Jerem in Honour of her 70th Birthday, Budapest: Archaeo­lingua, pp. 249-264.

2011. “Grassroot democracy: das athenische Experiment”, Potestas 4, 2011, 21-53.

2011. “Beyond ‘polis religion’ and sacerdotes publici in Southern Gaul”, in: Federico Santangelo et James Richardson (edd.), Priests and State in the Roman World. Stuttgart: Steiner (Potsdamer Altertums­wissen­schaft­liche Beiträge, 33), S. 391-428.

2010. “From tomb to temple. On the role of hero cults in local religions in Gaul and Britain in Iron Age and Roman period”, in: J. Arenas Esteban (ed.), Celtic Religion across Space and Time. Molina de Aragón, Toledo, pp. 201-226.

and many more...

I have been external referee and examiner for a number of institutions:

• External referee for the Council for the Humanities of the Netherlands, Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, the Dutch Research Council) and for the Austrian Academy of Sciences/ÖAW.
• Invited external referee for numerous peer-reviewed journals (e.g. Paleohispanica, Tyche, Historia, Journal of Theoretical Roman Archaeology, Heritage, and the Anzeiger of the Austrian Academy of Sciences/ÖAW)
• Peer-review of monographs, e.g. for Routledge
• Invited as referee for PhD theses, e.g. for a PhD thesis on sacred landscapes in pre-Roman and Roman Iberia at the University of Zaragoza.
• Invited as PhD supervisor in Ancient history for the University of Zaragoza’s International PhD degree
• Invited to write book reviews for various peer-reviewed journals, both in Britain, Europe and the United States, like Britannia, American Journal of Archaeology, Journal of Roman Studies, Journal of Roman Archaeology, Historische Zeitschrift, Bonner Jahrbücher, Gnomon, Gymnasium, and many more.

Among others, I have organised a number of conferences in the past few years, many on UWTSD's Lampeter campus:

• 5^th – 7^th May 2014: Organisation of a three-day conference entitled Sacred Landscapes: Creation, Manipulation, Transformation at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David (together with E.M. Bett [Open University] and G.F. Chiai [Free University, Berlin])
• 17^th – 19^th October 2014: Organisation of a three-day conference: “XIII^thE.R.C.AN. Workshop” at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David (cf. http://viasacra.org.uk/f-e-r-c-an-2014/).
• 7^th January 2016: Organisation of a one-day conference session entitled “Sacred Nature & Structuring the Sacred: Constructing and Re-Writing Sacred Landscapes in the Ancient Near East” at the annual BANEA conference, held at UWTSD, Lampeter campus (cf. http://viasacra.org.uk/banea/)
• 12^th – 14^th April 2018: Organisation of a conference session on “Remembrance and Cultural Memory in the Roman West” at RAC/TRAC 2018, Edinburgh.
• 8^th – 10^th May 2018: Organisation of a three-day international, multidisciplinary conference  (with Matt Cobb, UWTSD): “Re-Thinking Globalisation in the Ancient World”, together with M. Cobb, at UWTSD Lampeter
• 5^th – 8^th September 2018: Organisation of a session entitled “Boundaries and Regions in Iron Age and Romano-Celtic Religions”, at the EAA Congress in Barcelona (together with Tony King [Winchester] and Wolfgang Spickermann [Graz, Austria])
• In preparation for 2020: an international conference to explore the development of ‘Celtic’ myths between late Antiquity and the Middle Ages in Britain and Ireland, in collaboration with Jonathan Wooding, University of Sydney.

External referee/examiner:

• External referee for the Council for the Humanities of the Netherlands, Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, the Dutch Research Council) and for the Austrian Academy of Sciences/ÖAW.
• Invited external referee for numerous peer-reviewed journals (e.g. Paleohispanica, Tyche, Historia, Journal of Theoretical Roman Archaeology, Heritage, and the Anzeiger of the Austrian Academy of Sciences/ÖAW)
• Peer-review of monographs, e.g. for Routledge
• Invited as referee for PhD theses, e.g. for a PhD thesis on sacred landscapes in pre-Roman and Roman Iberia at the University of Zaragoza.
• Invited as PhD supervisor in Ancient history for the University of Zaragoza’s International PhD degree
• Invited to write book reviews for various peer-reviewed journals, both in Britain, Europe and the United States, like Britannia, American Journal of Archaeology, Journal of Roman Studies, Journal of Roman Archaeology, Historische Zeitschrift, Bonner Jahrbücher, Gnomon, Gymnasium, and many more.