Integrative Ancient History at Basel is committed to preparing the next generation of historians for a rapidly changing scholarly landscape. While the close reading of literary, epigraphic, papyrological, and archaeological sources remains at the core of historical training, students increasingly encounter new forms of evidence that require additional methodological competencies.

Our teaching programme introduces students to the opportunities and limitations of palaeoclimate reconstructions, archaeogenetics, isotopic analyses, bioarchaeology, environmental archives, and quantitative approaches. Rather than training students as natural scientists, our goal is to equip them with the skills necessary to critically evaluate scientific evidence and integrate it into historical interpretation.

A major milestone in this effort is the establishment of the Jacob Burckhardt Lectureship in Ancient History (2026–2031), generously supported by the Freiwillige Akademische Gesellschaft Basel and the University of Basel. The lectureship enables the development of new teaching formats at the intersection of history, archaeology, environmental sciences, and the life sciences.

Planned activities include:

• interdisciplinary seminars on climate, environment, health, mobility, and society in the ancient world;

• methodological training in the interpretation of scientific datasets and their integration with historical sources;

• research-based teaching linked to ongoing projects in Roman Egypt, Roman Italy, and the wider Mediterranean;

• guest lectures and workshops with leading international scholars from the humanities and natural sciences;

• opportunities for student participation in fieldwork, laboratory collaborations, and international research networks.

Through these initiatives, Integrative Ancient History at Basel seeks to provide students with the intellectual tools needed to engage critically with both traditional and emerging forms of evidence and to contribute to the future development of the discipline.