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All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice.
What is the UC Tri-Campus Program? This graduate program joins together into a single faculty more than twenty experts in classics and related disciplines from the three southernmost University of California campuses (Irvine, Riverside, and San Diego). It features an innovative curriculum and program of study that address the practical and theoretical questions confronting the humanities and classics in particular as both enter the twenty-first century.
What are the program’s goals? The aim of the Tri-Campus Program is to provide an educational environment for pursuing a graduate career in classics that is closely integrated into the main currents of humanistic and social scientific scholarship. The program’s faculty recognizes that today and in the future, teachers of the classics must possess and develop expertise beyond the standard specialties of the traditional classics PhD degree. Classics programs, in both large research universities and small liberal arts colleges, increasingly feel the pressure to break down the boundaries between disciplines.
To achieve these goals, the program and curriculum are designed around five principles:
These five interdisciplinary principles are embodied in the four Core Courses (Classics 200A, 200B, 200C, and 201). Graduate seminars (Classics 220) and reading courses in Greek and Latin authors (Classics 205) round out the program of studies. This curriculum has been in effect at UC Irvine since 1995, taught by faculty members from all three campuses.
Where do I apply? The Tri-Campus Program uniquely does not belong to a particular campus but to the University of California. Students who are accepted into the program may enroll at any of the three campuses. Because instruction and administrative functions take place on the Irvine campus, students will normally enroll at UC Irvine. Applications to the Tri-Campus Graduate Program will be reviewed by an admissions committee composed of members from all three campuses.
Where is the Tri-Campus Program located? UC Irvine is located five miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, fifty miles south of metropolitan Los Angeles, forty-five miles southwest of UC Riverside, and seventy-four miles north of UC San Diego. In addition to its beaches, mountains, and deserts, Southern California offers excellent cultural amenities such as museums, theatre, dance, opera, and music.
What are the requirements for admission? Applicants to the program should have a BA or equivalent in classics or classical civilization, which normally means that you have had at least three years of one classical language and two of the other. Majors in other disciplines (e.g., comparative literature, history, philosophy, or interdisciplinary fields such as women’s studies) are welcome, provided they have sufficient background in Greek and Latin. All applicants must submit Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores and must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 or the equivalent. If you have completed an MA in classics at another institution, you may be admitted with advanced standing and may have the course requirements reduced from the normal three years to two or one. The level of course reduction will be determined by progress evaluation exams administered in the spring quarter of each year.
The Tri-Campus Program is administered by a joint executive committee (JEC), which consists of six representatives, two from each campus, serving staggered, two-year terms. The JEC’s responsibilities include reviewing graduate applications and admitting students to the program; overseeing the formation of examination and dissertation committees; reviewing and deciding on student petitions; making policy decisions concerning the program, including changes in the program’s requirements and procedures; and interpreting the program’s requirements and procedures. The JEC elects from its members a chair to serve a three-year term. It is the chair’s responsibility to manage budgetary issues, schedule and set the agenda for quarterly JEC meetings, identify faculty to teach graduate courses, and generally look after the smooth operation of the program.
The graduate adviser is a faculty member responsible for supervising graduate study in the department and monitoring the academic progress of graduate students. The graduate adviser coordinates the various elements of the academic program and advises students and other faculty members about program requirements and university policies. The graduate adviser keeps records for each student and for the whole program, ensures that each student meets all requirements and makes satisfactory progress toward attainment of the degree, and is instrumental in the nomination of students for fellowship support and assistantship appointments. The graduate adviser also provides general help to students as they attempt to negotiate the academic and administrative hurdles on their way to completion of their degrees. The graduate adviser is an ex-officio member of the Tri-Campus JEC for the duration of his or her tenure, normally two years.
Graduate students elect a representative who attends JEC meetings as a regular voting member. Graduate students are also invited to attend meetings as observers and to participate where appropriate. The voting rights and attendance of the graduate student representative are circumscribed by the requirements of confidentiality.
A student’s career may be thought of as covering three stages: course work, preparation for qualifying exams, and candidacy (dissertation). For PhD students the normative limits for completion of the program are four years to advancement to candidacy, two years to final approval of the dissertation, and a maximum of seven years in total. Students are only admitted into the PhD program. Entering students who do not already hold a master’s degree in classics from another institution will be required to complete MA requirements while pursuing the PhD.
The MA degree in classics may be awarded either upon completing the PhD course requirements and passing the written PhD examinations or upon completing the MA course requirements and master’s paper and passing the MA translation examinations and general exam. The latter path to the MA is intended for PhD students who decide to leave the program before completing the requirements for a PhD.
MA students must successfully complete a minimum of twelve approved seminar-level courses. The twelve courses must be distributed as follows:
FALL |
WINTER |
SPRING |
---|---|---|
YEAR 1 |
||
200A (200C) |
Classics 220 |
200B (201) |
Classics 220 |
Classics 220 |
Classics 220 |
Classics 399 |
Classics 399 |
Classics 399 |
YEAR 2 |
||
200C (200A) |
Classics 220 |
201 (200B) |
Classics 220 |
Classics 220 |
Classics 290 |
Classics 399 |
Classics 399 |
Classics 399 |
|
|
MA Exams |
PhD students must successfully complete a minimum of eighteen approved seminar-level courses. The eighteen courses must be distributed as follows:
Classics 280 may be used, normally in the fourth year, to provide time to work on the Greek and Latin reading lists and to prepare for qualifying exams, but these courses do not count toward the required eighteen courses. PhD students must meet with the graduate adviser early every fall quarter to discuss their progress through the curriculum and their plans for the coming academic year. A student who accumulates more than one outstanding grade of incomplete is considered to be at risk.
For student files, faculty teaching graduate courses will submit to the graduate adviser a brief written evaluation for each student, commenting on the student’s performance and noting whether the student wrote a seminar paper for the course. The graduate adviser will lead the JEC in an annual review of all active graduate students in the program at the JEC’s spring meeting.
FALL |
WINTER |
SPRING |
---|---|---|
YEAR 1 |
||
200A (200C) |
Classics 220 |
200B (201) |
Classics 220 |
Classics 220 |
Classics 220 |
Classics 399 |
Classics 399 |
Classics 399 |
YEAR 2 |
||
200C (200A) |
Classics 220 |
201 (200B) |
Classics 220 |
Classics 220 |
Classics 220 |
Classics 399 |
Classics 399 |
Classics 399 |
YEAR 3 |
||
Classics 220 |
Classics 220 |
Classics 220 |
Classics 399 |
Classics 399 |
Classics 220 |
Seminar (External) |
Seminar (External) |
Classics 399 |
YEAR 4 |
||
Classics 280 |
Classics 280 |
Classics 280 |
Qualifying Exams |
Qualifying Exams |
Qualifying Exams |
YEAR 5 |
||
Classics 299 |
Classics 299 |
Classics 299 |
Dissertation |
Dissertation Writing |
Dissertation |
YEAR 6 |
||
Classics 299 |
Classics 299 |
Classics 299 |
Dissertation |
Dissertation |
Dissertation |
Diagnostic Exams: Immediately upon entering the program, the student takes diagnostic translation examinations in both Greek and Latin to establish his or her level of competency and to determine where effort should be directed. In the second year of course work, students will take as diagnostic exams the Latin and Greek translation exams administered as part of the qualifying exam battery.
Foreign Language Requirement: Students must demonstrate reading knowledge of German, French, Italian, or an equivalent research language either through appropriate course work or by examination.
Translation Exams: Each student must pass a set of translation examinations in Greek and in Latin administered by the master’s committee (two hours each).
The JEC, in consultation with the graduate adviser and the student, recommends to the graduate dean a three-member master’s committee composed of program faculty from at least two campuses to set and evaluate the translation exams and to evaluate the master’s paper. Normally this committee is established in the quarter preceding completion of the master’s paper.
The master’s paper comprises a substantial piece of original research. It should exceed the breadth and depth expected for a seminar paper, which can provide a good foundation for the master’s paper. The master’s paper must be submitted to members of the master’s committee three weeks in advance of the general exam.
If the master’s paper is found to be of passing quality by the committee, the student may take the general exam, a one-hour oral exam covering the broader implications of the master’s paper and the classical world generally.
When the student has advanced to candidacy, the JEC—in consultation with the candidate, the graduate adviser, and the proposed chair of the doctoral committee—will recommend to the dean of the Graduate Division a doctoral committee composed of at least three program faculty (from at least two of the three campuses) and one outside member who holds tenure at one of the participating campuses. The doctoral committee will serve as the examination committee for the thesis defense. Within the first quarter after completion of the qualifying exams and all other prerequisites, the candidate will submit a dissertation proposal for discussion and evaluation to the doctoral committee.
A public oral defense of the dissertation will be scheduled upon its submission to the doctoral committee. Members of the committee must be supplied with a copy of the dissertation at least three weeks before the exam date.
For the emphasis in comparative literature, students must take at least five graduate courses in the Department of English and Comparative Literature. One course should be Criticism 222A or C, or Comparative Literature 200. At least three of the courses should have a Comparative Literature designation. One of the courses could be Humanities 270 (Critical Theory). Classics students can devote the required outside seminars to this emphasis and may, with the graduate adviser’s approval, make appropriate substitutions of courses.
One topic on the PhD qualifying examination must be on a comparative literature topic and should be prepared with a professor from the Comparative Literature Program who would serve as a member of the student’s exam committee. The student should be able to demonstrate some expertise in comparative critical methodologies as well as knowledge of a literature and tradition other than classics. Normally classics students will fulfill this requirement by selecting the research-paper option for the oral-exam stage of the qualifying examinations.
One member of the student’s doctoral committee must be from the Program in Comparative Literature.
Students must submit an application for the emphasis to the graduate adviser in classics, and the department will track the students’ progress and fulfillment of the emphasis requirements. Upon graduation, students will receive a letter from the graduate adviser certifying completion of the emphasis.
Seminars, colloquia, and other activities of interest to classics graduate students are organized regularly by the Tri-Campus Graduate Program. Since these activities are considered part of the student’s professional training, all students are required to attend them. Students are also urged to acquaint themselves with colloquia offered in other fields.
A variety of fellowships and teaching assistantships is available to classics graduate students on a competitive basis. They include Chancellor’s Fellowships, Regents’ Fellowships, and Dissertation Fellowships, as well as the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae Fellowship. Several teaching and research assistantships are also available and provide a stipend in addition to tuition and fees. Some fourth- and fifth-year teaching assistantships are held at UC Riverside and UC San Diego. Continuation of support is contingent upon satisfactory academic progress. Support from various sources is normally extended to students in good standing for up to six years.
The Department of Classics at UC Irvine, which is the administrative center of the Tri-Campus Program, is housed in pleasant quarters in Humanities Office Building 2. Tri-Campus graduate students avail themselves of
For further information and an online application to the program, please see the Tri-Campus Program’s website at https://www.humanities.uci.edu/classics/graduate/index.php.
James Porter
Program Graduate Advisor
Department of Classics
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-2000
(949) 824-8019
E-mail: james.porter@uci.edu
Fax: (949) 824-1966
Following is a list of websites for professional organizations that may be of interest to Classical Studies students: