Classical Studies

[ major | minor | graduate program | courses | faculty ]

History Department Undergraduate Advising
Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Fifth Floor
Muir College
http://caesar.ucsd.edu/classical/index.html

All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice. Updates may be found on the Academic Senate website: http://senate.ucsd.edu/catalog-copy/approved-updates/.

Classical studies is concerned with the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome—roughly from the time of Homer through the time of St. Augustine—in all of their aspects. This program thus offers undergraduates an opportunity to study the cultures of Greece and Rome through the combined resources of the Departments of History, Literature, Visual Arts, Theatre and Dance, and Philosophy. The study of the ancient Greek and Latin languages themselves serves as the starting point for the broader consideration of specific texts in their literary, intellectual, and historical context. Moreover, in cooperation with the Judaic Studies Program, students are provided the opportunity to link the study of ancient Greece and Rome to that of the ancient Near East.

The Major Programs

The Classical Studies Program offers four different degree paths, three within classical studies and one in cooperation with Judaic studies. The majors are Greek, Latin, classics, and Greek and Hebrew. Each consists of a choice of twelve upper-division courses (forty-eight units) approved for the program and listed below. All courses used to meet requirements for a major in classical studies must be taken for a letter grade and be passed with a grade of C– or better.

Graduate courses may be taken by undergraduates with consent of the instructor. The faculty of the program welcome qualified undergraduates in graduate courses.

Additional courses counting toward a major in classical studies are offered on a year-to-year basis, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. As these often cannot be listed in advance, interested students should consult the program faculty for an up-to-date list.

Greek

LTWL 19A-B-C are prerequisites to the Greek major. Six of the twelve upper-division courses must be LTGK courses numbered 100 and above, but exclusive of LTGK 101. The remaining six courses may be in classical civilization (in English translation), selected from the list of approved courses from history, Lit/World, philosophy, political science, and visual arts, though additional LTGK courses numbered 100 and above (including LTGK 101) are acceptable here. These must be from at least two departments and selected in consultation with the adviser; courses dealing with Greek civilization are strongly preferred.

Latin

LTWL 19A-B-C are prerequisites to the Latin major. Six of the twelve upper-division courses must be LTLA courses numbered 100 and above, but exclusive of LTLA 101 and 102. The remaining six courses may be in classical civilization (in English translation), selected from the list of approved courses from history, Lit/World, philosophy, political science, and visual arts, though additional LTLA courses numbered 100 and above (including LTLA 101 and 102) are acceptable here. These must be from at least two departments and selected in consultation with the adviser; courses dealing with Roman civilization are strongly preferred.

Classics

LTWL 19A-B-C are prerequisites to the classics major. Nine of the twelve upper-division courses must be distributed between LTLA and LTGK courses numbered 100 and above (but exclusive of LTLA 101 and 102 and LTGK 101), six in one literature and three in the other according to the student’s emphasis. The remaining three courses may be in classical civilization (in English translation), selected from the list of approved courses from history, Lit/World, philosophy, political science, and visual arts, though additional LTLA or LTGK courses numbered 100 and above (including LTLA 101 and 102 and LTGK 101) are acceptable here. These must be from at least two departments and selected in consultation with the adviser to reflect the relative emphasis upon the Greek and Latin literatures, but with at least one focusing upon each culture.

Greek and Hebrew

Three courses from LTWL 19A-B-C and Cultural Traditions, Judaic 1A-B, to be selected in consultation with the adviser, are prerequisites to the Greek and Hebrew major. Nine of the twelve upper-division courses must be distributed between LTGK courses numbered 100 and above (but exclusive of LTGK 101) and Judaic Studies 101-102-103 or LTNE courses numbered 100 through 112, six in one literature and three in the other according to the student’s emphasis. The remaining three courses may be in ancient Greek and Judaic civilization (in English translation), selected from the list of courses approved for classical studies and from the list of courses approved for Judaic studies, though additional LTGK courses numbered 100 and above (including LTGK 101) or Judaic Studies 101-102-103 or LTNE courses numbered 100 through 112 are acceptable here. These must be from at least two departments and selected in consultation with the adviser (who is selected in accordance with the student’s emphasis) to reflect the relative emphasis upon the Greek and Hebrew literatures, but with at least one course from each program.

The Minor Programs

Classical Studies

A minor in classical studies consists of seven courses (twenty-eight units) from those listed below, of which at least four must be upper division. A knowledge of the ancient languages is not required. The minor will normally include LTWL 19A-B-C. The Greco-Roman World, and four other courses from the participating departments. All courses used to meet requirements for the minor in Classical Studies must be taken for a letter grade and passed with a grade of C– or better.

Greek

See Literature: “The Minor in Literature”

Latin

See Literature: “The Minor in Literature”

Warren College

A Warren College program of concentration in classical studies normally consists of LTWL 19A-B-C and three of the upper-division courses listed below.

Honors in Greek, Latin, and Classics

Honors is intended for the most talented and motivated students majoring in Greek, Latin, classics, or Greek and Hebrew. Requirements for admission to the honors program are

Qualified students majoring in Greek, Latin, or classics may apply at the end of their junior year to the program faculty on the basis of 1) a thesis proposal (three to four pages) worked out in advance with a classical studies faculty member and 2) a recommendation from that faculty member. It is strongly advised that the proposal be based upon a class paper or project from a course taken toward completion of the major.

The core of the honors program is an honors thesis. The research and writing of the thesis will be conducted over the winter or fall and winter terms of the senior year. Up to four units of 196 course credit to this end may be counted toward the major in place of one of the courses in English translation. A thesis completed by the end of the winter quarter of the senior year will be read and evaluated by the thesis adviser and another member of the program faculty. If the thesis is accepted and the student maintains a 3.7 GPA, departmental honors will be awarded. The level of honors—distinction, high distinction, or highest distinction—will be determined by the program faculty.

Students choosing a major in Greek and Hebrew may complete an honors major as follows: Those with an emphasis on Greek must meet the requirements for honors in the Classical Studies Program and work with a thesis adviser from classical studies, but select a second adviser for the thesis from Judaic studies. Those with an emphasis on Hebrew must meet the requirements for honors in the Judaic Studies Program and work with a thesis adviser from Judaic studies, but select a second adviser for the thesis from classical studies.

Transfer Students

UC San Diego’s Program in Classical Studies welcomes transfer students. Students planning to transfer from two-year colleges should try to complete as many of the lower-division prerequisites for the major as possible: specifically, a course equivalent in duration and content to UC San Diego’s Literatures of the World 19A-B-C and, if possible, elementary Greek and/or Latin, as appropriate for the planned classical studies major. Students with questions about transferring into UC San Diego’s Program in Classical Studies should review the “Admission Information for Transfer Students” on the UC San Diego website (go to http://www.ucsd.edu and choose Prospective Students, then Admissions, then For Transfer Students) and feel free to contact the faculty adviser for the program with any questions.