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Overview and Learning Goals

Overview

The Department of Classics investigates the history, language, literature, and archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean world. We use the perspectives of multiple disciplines to understand and imagine the diversity of Greek and Roman culture, their interactions with their neighbors, and what the past has meant to later eras, and to our own.

Students pursuing a classics major follow one of three different concentrations: one with a focus on Greek and Roman culture and history (classical studies), one with a focus on the material culture of the ancient Mediterranean (ancient Mediterranean archaeology), and one with a focus on Greek and Latin literature (classical languages and literature). Students pursuing these concentrations are encouraged to study not only the languages and literatures but also the material culture of the ancient Mediterranean world. Our concentrations reflect the varied but interrelated approaches to the study of the ancient Mediterranean. 

With that goal in mind, the classics program welcomes students who have not studied classical languages, as well as those who have had some prior training in Latin and/or Greek. In addition, while we strongly recommend coursework in the ancient languages, Greek and Latin are not required of students pursuing the concentrations in classical studies or ancient Mediterranean archaeology.

Learning Goals

Students will:

1. Explore the foundations of ancient Greek and Roman societies through the study and analysis of language, traditions, and material culture in their historical context.
2. Read texts closely and deliberately.
3. Read artifacts, monuments, and spaces closely and deliberately.
4. Write clearly and persuasively about the archaeological, historical, and literary dimensions of Greece, Rome, and the ancient Mediterranean.
5. Connect Greek and Roman histories and cultures to those of other ancient and modern societies.
6. Engage directly with texts written in Greek and Latin and artifacts produced in the ancient Greek and Roman world.
7. Present or perform thoughtfully and confidently to a diverse audience material pertaining to Greek, Roman, or ancient Mediterranean culture.
8. Complete a research project incorporating both primary and secondary sources.

Options for Majoring or Minoring in the Department

Students may elect to major in classics, the art history and archaeology interdisciplinary major, or to coordinate the major in classics with digital and computational studies, education, or environmental studies. Students pursuing a coordinate or interdisciplinary major may not normally elect a second major. Non-majors may elect to minor in ancient Mediterranean archaeology, classics, classical studies, Greek, or Latin. Art history and archaeology interdisciplinary majors may declare a classics, classical studies, Greek, or Latin minor, but not an ancient Mediterranean archaeology minor.

Department Website