Classics

专业详情

When one visits Rome or Athens, they also visit the many layers of physical, historical, and cultural development that have contributed to the complex evolution of those cities. When one tours the Roman Forum or the Greek Parthenon, they set foot on monuments whose physical impressiveness symbolizes political strength and historical importance; in a very physical way they experience the past. When one studies Latin and Greek language and culture, they embark on a tour of an alternative kind, making their way through texts and other cultural forms—such as paintings, sculptures, and philosophical ideas—that bring them directly into contact with the Greco-Roman past. Literature, philosophy, history, art and architecture, linguistics, papyrology, religion: all (and more) are branches of investigation to which the modern student of classics/classical studies has access through the surviving literary and material evidence.

But when one studies in the original language Virgil’s Aeneid, say, or Plato’s philosophical writings, they find that ancient Greek or Latin literature deals with issues and ideas that are, for us, of central contemporary importance: e.g., How can I be happy? What is the best political constitution for our (or any) state? What responsibilities do I have to the society in which I live? What national significance is served or owed by literature?

The study of Greek and Latin language and culture concentrates in one main area (ancient Greece and Rome) and on many of the questions that are of direct pertinence to the ways in which modern lives are shaped and lived; at the same time, Greco-Roman literature and philosophy, so fundamental to the later development of the Western tradition, boast works of great intrinsic worth and interest. While all Columbia students get an introduction to classical texts in Literature Humanities and Contemporary Civilization, classics/classical studies provides a more advanced study of ancient cultural issues and habits of mind already sampled in the Core.

Study abroad in Greece or Italy offers a variety of educational experiences that are continuous with those of the major, enriching both linguistic expertise and cultural awareness. Students in classics have the opportunity to take part in archaeological digs abroad and, on occasion, to assist faculty in research projects that require, for example, bibliographical collection or the checking of research data.

Many majors pursue graduate study in classics and classical studies. Upon earning their graduate degrees, they often embark on teaching careers in universities, colleges, and high schools. Many graduating majors also enter a number of other professional fields, among them law, banking, accountancy, publishing, and museum-work. Employers tend to find that students in classics are articulate on paper, as well as orally; are organized of mind; and have good skills in general reasoning, an ability developed by the study of Greek and Latin language. In effect, the study of classics opens up a wide array of options, both in education and in the wider world.

The program of the department aims for a comprehensive understanding of classical literature and culture, and the mastery of Greek and Latin on which such understanding depends. Careful study of the language occupies the largest part of the first-year courses and is not omitted in the more advanced courses. Although literature becomes the chief subject only in the advanced courses, important authors like Homer, Plato, and Virgil are studied as literary texts already in the intermediate courses. A wide variety of courses are offered in translation.

Through a joint program with Barnard, the department offers a broad range of subjects. The department annually offers four advanced courses in each language (at the 3000- or 4000– level), the content of which changes each year in order to provide a curricular range and to balance authors and genres over a two-year period.

Opportunities for individual projects of reading and research are available. Students are also permitted to take graduate courses if they are sufficiently prepared. Additionally, they can supplement their studies within the department through work in other departments, such as art history and archaeology, history, philosophy, and the other departments of languages and literature.

It is not necessary to have previously studied either language in order to major in it. A student starting Greek or Latin at Columbia can meet all the requirements of a major within an ordinary undergraduate program.