Classical Humanities

The intellectual foundation for Western culture comes from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Classics is the study of their language, literature, art, history, archaeology, and philosophy. This major is designed to deepen your understanding of the origins of our culture and at the same time offer alternatives to the social, political, and cultural values of our world.

Distinctive Features

A major in classical humanities provides a comprehensive study of a complex culture. You will learn to critically appreciate the literary, historic, and visual achievement of ancient Greece and Rome and explore how the ancient cultural traditions have been incorporated into people's lives ever since. Such a comprehensive study encourages you to further investigate related areas such as art, archaeology, history, philosophy, mythology, and religion.

Miami's classics program received a highly favorable review from outside program evaluators. Consisting of seven faculty members with diverse interests, the classics program is larger and offers a fuller range of courses than many programs in the state, including rare courses such as Race and Ethnicity and Ancient Law. While many schools are not large enough to offer introductory courses, Miami offers a complete range of ancient Greek and ancient Latin courses. Miami's classics instructors are philologists, trained in literature rather than archaeology, and are known regionally and nationally for their scholarship and leadership positions in organizations.

Your Program of Study

During your first year of study at Miami University, depending on your foreign language experience in high school, you may take Latin, Greek, or another language as well as foundation courses in mythology, Greek civilization, and Roman civilization. You will also concentrate on the Miami Plan, a well-rounded course of study that provides you with an excellent liberal arts education.

In your sophomore year, you may continue your language instruction in addition to taking upper-level classics courses. Students planning to pursue classics in graduate school are advised to take French or German through their senior year.

In your junior and senior years, you'll continue with upper-level classics courses. Many classics majors are interested in other subjects and choose double majors. Your junior and senior years are flexible so you can take related hours in other programs.

Miami's study abroad programs offer opportunities to observe first hand some of the art and architecture discussed in classes and to relate your classical humanities studies to other cultures. The Classics Department offers its own summer program in Italy.

Facilities

Miami's classics department offers several resources for classroom instruction and student research. The department's language lab/computer lab provides students access to study and reference resources such as Perseus, a computer resource containing translated Greek texts, a dictionary, maps, and replicas of artwork and architecture; Transparent Language, a Latin self-tutorial program; and Greek Practice, a self-tutorial for Greek studies. The department also has an electronic classroom offering laptop computers and on-screen instruction.

Classics students can carry their interests beyond the classroom through Miami's chapter of the national honorary Eta Sigma Phi, the department's annual colloquium and lecture series, and the American Classical League, a national association headquartered at Miami which provides reference materials, a placement service for classics teachers, and services for secondary schools. Also, the Clark Lounge provides a study area and non-circulating reference library for classics students.

Careers

A graduate of classics can offer an employer the ability to read, write, and think analytically about a broad range of human concerns. Potential career areas include journalism, library science, publishing, and teaching. With an additional proficiency in a modern language, a classics major would be a strong candidate for positions in international business and diplomacy.

Many classics graduates decide to continue their education. While Miami does not offer a graduate program in classics, the department does provide a solid foundation for advanced work in the ancient languages and literature, comparative literature, archaeology, religion, history, creative writing, business, mythology, philosophy, and the sciences. Professional schools of law and medicine are also options.

For More Information

For general information about Miami University, please contact:

Office of Admission
301 S. Campus Ave.
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056-3434
513-529-2531 (v/t)
www.muohio.edu/requestinfo

For specific information on the Classical Humanities major, please contact:

Department of Classics
105 Irvin Hall
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056
513-529-1480
http://montgomery.cas.muohio.edu/classics