Classics

专业详情

What is Classics?

Classics is the interdisciplinary study of the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds, their connections to other ancient cultures, and their continued resonance today. Classicists study language, literature, history, material culture, archaeology, philosophy, and much more, with interests reaching from ancient Mesopotamia to modern America. The discipline explores the full range of approaches to Ancient Greece and Rome within their ancient Mediterranean context, and the way that classical texts, objects, histories, ideas, and values have been significant for later cultures across the globe. 

Concentrating in Classics

Classics matters today because the modern world has been profoundly shaped by engagements with the classical past. Understanding that past in its full breadth and complexity helps us to make sense of the present, and to imagine possible ways of meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow. As an interdisciplinary field of study, moreover, Classics develops in its students a range of skills that are crucial for their development: abilities to engage with foreign cultures, to read closely, to understand events, and to trace legacies through history. The study of antiquity helps us better grasp our modernity.

The Department offers two tracks of study for concentrators: the Classical Studies program affords wide-ranging opportunities to study the history, literature, and culture of the ancient Mediterranean, as well as the impact of classical antiquity on later periods; the Ancient History program explores the history of ancient Greece and Rome and their relationships with the neighboring cultures of the Near East, Europe, and Africa.

Both tracks offer students a great degree of flexibility and the chance to work closely with faculty to develop innovative research projects that emerge from their interests and address their personal goals.

Learn more about the concentration here.