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Classical Studies Major
Overview of Program
The World Languages and Cultures Department offers a major and minor in Latin or Greek or a combination in Classical Studies with an emphasis on one language or the other.
The program is small, personal, and flexible enough to accommodate students’ interests. Graduates have gone on to receive M.A.s and teach in various high schools and prep schools, and some have gone on for their doctorates from Ivy League and other elite universities and are now teaching at the University level.
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Why Study the Classical Languages?
- Latin and Greek are the roots of 60% of all English words and 90% of scientific, technical, and medical vocabulary.
- Latin is the basis for the Romance Languages of Europe, including French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.
- Greek and Latin are the languages of two ancient civilizations, Rome and Greece, offering insights in the cultures, histories, and literatures of many early thinkers and philosophers
- Proficiency in these languages provide access to ancient classics, such as Vergil’s Aeneid, and can enhance your skills in rhetoric and writing.
Requirements of the Major
The Latin major consists of 36 credits, beginning with Beginning Latin (Latin 111), with the possibility of replacing 6 language credits with the 213 Literature and Mythology sequence. The student will take an additional 12 credits in another language (ideally Ancient Greek) as a concentration.
A major in Greek requires 36 credits in Ancient Greek, again starting at the elementary level, with the possibility of replacing 6 credits with the Literature and Mythology sequence. The student will take an additional 12 credits in another language (ideally Latin) as a concentration.
A major in Classical studies customarily includes 24 credits in either Latin or Ancient Greek, 12 credits in the other language, and a concentration in a third language.
After Elementary and Intermediate, students take the remainder of their coursework in readers with their professor and can tailor those readers to fit their interests. Among the authors offered in the last few years are Euripides, Sophocles, Xenophon and Homer on the Greek side, and Tacitus, Catullus, Vergil, and Cicero on the Latin side. Students have also taken coursework on special topics, including imperial Rome, ancient medicine, and early Christian writers.
Senior language majors are also required to complete a senior portfolio prior to graduation.
Classics Courses
Language Skills:
- Beginning Latin I & II:
- An intensive course in the fundamentals of Latin reading and composition.
- Intermediate Latin I & II:
- Review of fundamentals. Reading of selections from Caesar, Cicero and Virgil.
- Beginning Greek I & II:
- An intensive course in the fundamentals of Classical Greek grammar, with readings from both Attic and Koine (New Testament).
- Intermediate Greek I & II:
- Review of fundamentals. Readings from Zenophon, Euripides, and the New Testament.
Literature:
- History of Latin Literature:
- A survey of Roman and post-Roman Latin literature.
- Latin Literature and Mythology:
- The course examines the role that mythology played in Roman literature, and examines the changing attitudes of the Romans toward the divinities, manifested in literature from Plautus to Apuleius.
- Readings in Latin Literature I & II:
- Selections from Latin writers to suit the students’ special interests.
- Classical Greek Literature and Mythology:
- This course examines the role that mythology played in Greek literature, and examines the changing attitudes of the Greeks towards the Olympian gods from Homer to the fourth century B.C.
- Readings in Greek Literature I & II:
- Selections from Greek writers to suit students’ special interests.
History & Culture:
- Ancient Civilization: Rome:
- The political, constitutional, and cultural history of Rome from the earliest times to the end of the Western empire.
- Legacy of Greek and Rome:
- Survey of the artistic and cultural treasures of classical Greece and Rome, with a focus on their enduring legacy in our own civilization.
- Ancient Civilization: Greece:
- The political, constitutional, and cultural history of Greece from the earliest times to the death of Alexander the Great.
Contact Information
Faculty:
Joseph Wilson, Ph.D., Professor of Latin and Greek
To learn more about the Classical Studies program, contact Dr. Joseph Wilson.