United Kingdom
At the University of Bristol Richard Buxton taught widely on Greek language and literature, ranging from the alphabet upwards: epic, tragedy, lyric, Hellenistic literature, comedy; also on Latin language and literature, from basic language work to lectures on Roman epic, lyric, elegiac, comedy and tragedy. For many years he taught units on Greek myth and/or religion.
New units which he devised included:
- Approaches to Myth
- Metamorphosis in Greece and Rome
- Religions in Greece
- an MA unit on Greeks and the Sacred
After his promotion to Professor, Richard continued to teach and examine a full load of undergraduate and postgraduate units, normally five per year (four undergraduate and one MA). Each year he supervised between five and eight undergraduate dissertations and one or more MA dissertations. Among his PhD students have been four from Greece, three from Japan, two from New Zealand, one from USA.
The rating of Richard’s teaching by his Bristol students consistently averaged between 4 and 5, on a scale from 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent), and in no year fell below an average of 4.
Outside UK
1991-2
Richard was appointed Associate Professor of Greek, University of Strasbourg II, fulfilling a normal undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programme.
In Strasbourg he taught students at all levels, from first- and second-years doing a general course on tragedy as part of their DEUG, to third-years (13 lectures on Oedipus Tyrannos and 13 on Hellenistic poetry) to agrégation students (12 two-year classes on Hesiod’s Works and Days) to research students (myth).
2001
A two-day Masterclass in Leiden consisted of a series of presentations, given by doctoral students from various Dutch universities, on the theme ‘Varieties of Metamorphosis’. After each presentation (given in front of an invited audience of fellow-students, their teachers, and the general public) Richard gave his impression of the content, form and delivery of the presentation. At the end of the event he gave a public lecture.