Classics,BA (Hons)

Our BA Classics immerses you in the cultures and languages of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. The deep knowledge you will gain of ancient Greek and/or the Latin language will enrich your study of a wealth of options in ancient history, literature, archaeology and philosophy.

Why choose this course?

• This course enables you to combine advanced study of ancient Greek and/or Latin with wide-ranging study of Greek and Roman culture and society, from Homer and Thucydides to Ovid and Tacitus.
• You will develop specialist knowledge as well as transferable skills in analysing a wide range of complex and ambiguous evidence to develop nuanced and persuasive arguments, often challenging widespread assumptions. These are attractive to a wide range of employers seeking graduates who can build, defend and adapt complex arguments, for example, in law, business, or the civil service.
• You will learn from dedicated and experienced lecturers pursuing their own original research into the ancient world and its impact and tailoring their classes to their students’ needs and interests.

What you will learn

You will acquire an advanced knowledge of one or two ancient languages, giving you new insights into the complex workings of language, grammar and rhetoric in the modern world.

You will also compare ancient Greek and Roman culture and society, gaining a subtle understanding of the interconnections between language, identity, knowledge and literature. You will connect these ancient civilisations and their literatures with other periods of history from the Neanderthals to the contemporary world.

Our diverse range of modules allows you to follow your interests. You can focus on language learning and exploring literature, or enrich your study with a wide range of complementary option modules across classics, and also history, archaeology, politics and philosophy.

How you will learn

You will learn through interactive classes and seminars in which you can exchange ideas with other students from a wide range of backgrounds. Our ancient Greek and Latin teaching is designed to be flexible so that you study at the appropriate level for you each year. We have a supportive environment with teaching in small groups tailored to your needs and priorities, to enable you to develop a high level of competence.

In your final year, you will devise your own dissertation project supervised by one of our subject specialists. This provides an opportunity to develop your own contribution to our understanding of the ancient world.

This course is available to study full- or part-time. It has an evening timetable with classes taking place in the evening.

If you decide to study full-time, you must have at least an introductory-level knowledge of either Greek or Latin, which can be acquired, for example, at a summer school immediately before starting the course. If you are an absolute beginner you should take the four-year part-time version of this course.