Major in Classical Studies

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Image courtesy of Clifford Ando

The flexibility of our major program in Classical Studies, which is available through three different variants, allows our students to explore Greek and Roman antiquity through a variety of methods and subject matter according to their interests, preparation, and goals.

Our undergraduate majors all gain expertise in Greek, Latin, or both, as well as in their chosen areas of Greek or Roman art, history, philosophy, religion, science, material culture, and literature. They also gain strong skills in interpretation, writing, critical thinking, close reading, and textual and visual analysis. When our majors graduate, they are excellently prepared for careers that require these skills. Many advance to careers in teaching, scholarly research, law, publishing, and the humanities in general.

Prospective students interested in the BA in Classical Studies must apply to the College.

Major Requirements

There are three different ways of achieving the major in Classical Studies, each with separate requirements:

Greek and Roman Cultures Variant 

The Greek and Roman Cultures variant emphasizes courses in art and archaeology, history, material culture, and texts in translation.

Language Intensive Variant

The language intensive variant emphasizes languages with the aim of reading a larger selection of texts in the original language. We recommend this variant for those who wish to pursue graduate studies in classics.

Language and Literature Variant 

The Language and Literature variant combines the reading of Greek and Latin texts with diverse areas of study including art and archaeology, history, philosophy, religion, and science.

Each of our variants has additional requirements. Current and prospective majors should review carefully the variant requirements linked above.

All courses taken to fulfill the requirements of the major must be taken for quality grades. The introductory first-year sequences in Greek and in Latin may be taken for Pass/Fail grading only if they are not being used to meet language requirements for the major.

Honors

In order to be recommended for Honors, our students must:

1.

Maintain an overall GPA of 3.25 or higher.

2.

Maintain a GPA in the major of 3.5 or higher

3.

Demonstrate superior ability in the BA Paper to develop a reasoned argument on a particular topic, based both on primary materials such as ancient literary texts and material culture and on research of relevant secondary bibliography.

4.

Have the BA Paper judged worthy of honors by the Faculty director, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and an additional Faculty committee.

 

Double Majors

Students may double major in Classical Studies and another subject by fulfilling all of the requirements for one of our variants and writing a combined BA Paper.