Art and Archaeology Curriculum

Curriculum - Classical Art & Archaeology

The degree program consists of 30 hours, whether one chooses the thesis or non-thesis option.

This track is designed for students who wish to supplement advanced study in Greek and Latin with additional research in the material remains of the Greek and Roman worlds. As with the track in Classical Languages, the student may stress either Latin or Greek or a combination of both. Students who take only one of the ancient languages at the graduate level must present the equivalent of at least one year of elementary college-level in the other; this requirement may also be satisfied by passing a departmental examination. For a research skill, the student must demonstrate a reading knowledge of German, French, or Italian before receiving the MA (see the graduate handbook for details).

Students may select their 30 hours from graduate courses in Greek, Latin, and Classics, as well as certain courses in philosophy, history, art history, and linguistics that have been approved by the Department. Students with no undergraduate preparation in Greek and/or Roman art and archaeology must enroll in CLSX 528 or an equivalent course at some point in their graduate career. Fifteen of the hours required for the MA must be in graduate coursework in Greek and/or Latin.

Students who elect to write an MA thesis must complete at least 24 hours of graduate-level courses, in addition to 6 hours of Thesis (CLSX 899). Each student shall select, with the approval of the graduate faculty of the Department, a thesis committee of three members, at least two of whom, including the committee chair, must be members of the Classics Department.

The student selecting the non-thesis option must complete 30 hours of courses at the graduate level. In two of these courses the student must prepare research papers that meet the approval of the appropriate instructors and the Director of Graduate Studies. These papers will be placed on file in the Department office.

Examinations

  • (a) Incoming graduate students will take a diagnostic reading examination in Greek and/or Latin. Student planning to take graduate-level courses in both languages will be tested in both languages. Students with no undergraduate preparation in Greek and/or Roman history must take a diagnostic exam in whichever area(s) they are deficient. Students who do not complete the exam(s) satisfactorily will have the option of either completing the appropriate undergraduate courses in the History Department or of passing an examination prepared by the Classics Department.
  • (b) All students must write a final translation examination prepared by a committee of three members of the graduate faculty, at least two of whom, including the committee chair, must be members of the Classics Department. The members of the examination committee will be selected by the student, with the approval of the graduate faculty of the Department, and the examination will be prepared by the committee in consultation with the student.

    One section of this examination will be drawn from material read in graduate classes. The student will present a reading list of no less than 400 pages, according to pagination in the Oxford Classical Text or its equivalent. This will consist of 50-150 pages from at least four of the eight major ares of Greek and Latin literature that form the four-semester cycle of courses (see below). A second section will be a sight passage from one of the major genres of Greek or Latin literature selected by the student.

Four-Semester Cycle of Courses

Headings indicate areas from which instructors may draw material for author or genre courses. Author listings are representative, not exclusive.

Greek

  • Epic and Lyric Poetry: From Homer to the Hellenistic poets
  • Drama: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes
  • History and Oratory: Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Attic Orators
  • Philosophy: Pre-Socratics, Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle

Latin

  • Epic Poetry: Lucretius, Ovid, Vergil
  • Lyric and Elegy: Catullus, Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, Ovid
  • History, Oratory, Philosophy: Cicero, Livy, Seneca, Tacitus, Augustine, Boethius
  • Drama, Satire, and Novel: Plautus, Terence, Horace, Petronius, Seneca, Juvenal, Apuleius