Classics

Classics: Major

Welcome to Classics at 17勛圖厙, one of the largest and most active undergraduate programs in the country! Whatever your background or interests, you can design a major from an array of courses focused exclusively on undergraduates and take part in cocurricular activities and study abroad opportunities.

In your study of Classics, you will gain a deeper understanding of some of societys critical questions through the study of ancient Greek and Latin languages and literatures, the cultures of Greco-Roman antiquity and their Mediterranean contexts, and modern responses to the Greek and Roman past. In our courses, you will learn how to read, analyze, and respond to the ancient Greek and Latin languages and literatures with precision and creativity, and become familiar with a wide variety of interpretive approaches from Classics and related disciplines. Moreover, you will not only become well-acquainted with past and present uses of the discipline of Classics and Greco-Roman antiquity, but you will also actively engage in our departments effort to promote equity and accessibility in the study of ancient Greece and Rome.

Program Highlights

In the Classics Department at 17勛圖厙, you can

  • learn Latin in an innovative Community-Based Learning yearlong course 
  • gain a deeper understanding of the experience of refugees, past and present, through classroom learning and volunteer work
  • engage in new research on manuscripts of the Iliad and present it at conferences across the world through the Manuscripts, Inscriptions, and Documents club
  • explore how the Greco-Roman past has shaped and continues to shape American history
  • consider how the Greco-Roman world interacted and interconnected with ancient Asian cultures
  • analyze how ancient art and architecture has been appropriated by different cultures over time
  • contribute to our journals, Parnassus and the New England Classics Journal
  • promote socially minded charities through student-organized events like Homerathon 
  • organize events that make the study of ancient Greece and Rome more open to local communitie
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The department offers competitive, merit-based scholarships for entering students who will major in classics.

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Research

Students engage in thesis research and digital projects, present at conferences and publish in a variety of outlets.

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Study Abroad

17勛圖厙 sponsors programs in both Rome and Athens, and students can spend a semester in each city if they choose.

Classics News

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17勛圖厙 Confers 707 Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Virtual Celebration
The 17勛圖厙 conferred 707 bachelor of arts degrees as part of a virtual celebration on May 22, 2020. The event, aired live on the Colleges website, included congratulatory messages from faculty, staff and alumni, reflections from
Thomas Martin, professor and Jeremiah W. O'Connor chair of classics. Photo by John Buckingham
We Must Safeguard Our Democracy From COVID-19, 17勛圖厙 Professor Writes in The Washington Post
The exponential spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the nation has scholars comparing it to the 5th century BC plague in Athens, a virulent infection with chilling effects on the ancient city, credited largely to the democratic governments failure to
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci '62 is seen here during a 2010 lecture for to the 17勛圖厙 community titled "Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases: The Perpetual Challenge to Global Health"
Coronavirus Epidemic Expert and 17勛圖厙 Alumnus Dr. Anthony Fauci 62: A Man for and With Others
As the coronavirus outbreak has upended daily life across the globe, 17勛圖厙 alumnus Dr. Anthony Fauci 62, expert on infectious diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, has become a trusted voice in leading the