Bachelor of Arts (BA)
The major in Greek and Latin provides training in both ancient Greek and Latin, enabling students to encounter texts such as Homer's Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid in their original form. Students can begin their study of the languages in our department or build on knowledge acquired elsewhere.
Declaring the Major
To declare the major, meet with the Ancient Greek and Roman Studies undergraduate advisor, who can help you create a course plan and complete the declaration. You may also want to review the Letters & Science advising site for a guide to declaring a major. For a detailed list of requirements, please see the Major Requirements tab.
Honors Program
Students who are declared majors in Greek and Latin and who have a GPA (both general and departmental) of at least 3.6 are eligible for honors in Greek and Latin. The honors program consists of a two-semester course sequence, either GREEK H195A and GREEK H195B or LATIN H195A and LATIN H195B, that is designed to support the writing of a thesis. This thesis, which will be evaluated by an honors committee of three members, may either build on work in a previous upper division course used in fulfillment of the Greek and Latin major or may be a newly conceived project. It is due the Monday of the 13th week of the semester in which the relevant H195B is taken.
Further details can be found online at AGRS Undergraduate Honors. Please consult with an AGRS undergraduate advisor to begin planning to participate in Honors.
Minor Program
There is no minor program in Greek and Latin. Students who wish to pursue a classical language at the minor level should consider the Greek or Latin minors. See below.
Other Majors and Minors Offered by the Department of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies
Ancient Greek and Roman Studies (Major and Minor)
Greek (Major and Minor)
Latin (Major and Minor)
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The learning goals should be understood in the context of the mission statement of the Department of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies. The first two components of that statement are especially relevant to undergraduate teaching and are repeated here:
- To give students across the University access to the literature, history, archaeology, mythology and philosophy of the ancient Greek and Roman world through an array of undergraduate courses on ancient Mediterranean culture in translation. These courses introduce students to texts, artifacts, and ideas that are worth studying both in their own right and as abidingly influential elements in the imagination and history of later cultures. Such study deepens students' understanding of present-day issues by inculcating a sense of historical perspective that takes account of both the differences and the continuities between contemporary and ancient cultures.
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To enable undergraduates to immerse themselves in the language and culture of ancient Greece and Rome through its majors in Greek, Latin, Greek and Latin, and Ancient Greek and Roman Studies. These majors equip students with knowledge and analytical skills that can be applied in many areas (e.g., law, politics, business, biosciences, computer science and media) as well as providing essential preparation for graduate study in Classics, Comparative Literature, Philosophy, and other fields.
Learning Goals for the Major
- Acquire a basic grounding in the vocabulary, morphology, and syntax of classical Greek and Latin.
- Practice the skills needed to use dictionaries, grammars, and other resources to read intermediate texts accurately and to deal comfortably with at least some advanced texts in the original language(s).
- Learn to identify and understand key events, institutions, personalities, places, and concepts of ancient Greek and Roman culture.
- Gain a critical awareness of continuities and differences between and within cultures and of ideologies of gender, group identity, social status, and political organization.
- Demonstrate the ability to interpret texts and material culture and to understand the implications of interpretive methods.
- Demonstrate the ability to synthesize a well-organized argument from textual or other evidence and to express it in formal English prose.
