Detailed study of the world of the ancient Mediterranean has often been restricted to people from the most advantaged backgrounds: those who have had the opportunity to learn Latin and Ancient Greek, or who can take expensive trips abroad to visit museums, archives or ancient sites. Academic disciplines such as classics and archaeology have played significant roles in spreading and enacting racist, colonial, imperialist and otherwise dehumanising ideologies, and this continues to shape which students feel that they belong in the field, and which students do not. There is often an expectation for scholars of ancient world studies to rely on personal or (more often) familial wealth to support themselves in the long and short term. Each of these factors acts as a barrier to equality and inclusivity within ancient world studies, and keeps out people who could be contributing cutting-edge research from previously unheard perspectives that could reshape and revitalise these disciplines.

Sportula Europe was founded in May 2020 as a no-questions-asked emergency microgrant fund for people who are facing acute financial difficulties that are impacting on their ability to study and work. We provide mutual aid and solidarity for students, postgraduates, early-career scholars and independent researchers in classics, ancient history, Mediterranean archaeology and ancient world studies, who live and work in Europe (including the UK). We are committed to supporting people from working-class or low-income backgrounds, people of colour, LGBT+ people, disabled people, and other groups who are traditionally marginalised or underrepresented in our disciplines. In our first year of operation, we raised over £8,300 through JustGiving, and were able to distribute 82 microgrants. This crowdfunding campaign will support us through our second year.

For more information and updates on our work, follow us on Twitter @SportulaEurope, check out our Wordpress site, or watch our presentation at the Res Difficiles conference in March 2021. Please spread the word about our work to people in your networks, both to academics who are in a position to donate to our efforts to support students in classics, and to students who might be in need of a microgrant.