Solid Classics Departments

golddustwoman · 10-09-2007, 07:47 PM

I'm looking for colleges with really good Classics departments. Preferably less than 3,000 students.

Is there like a list somewhere of these? Like rankings or something? Because I've looked online and found nothing.

quaere · 10-09-2007, 08:04 PM

Most of the big-name classics departments are at universities, but for LACs: definitely Reed, definitely Bryn Mawr (and Haverford - you can take Bryn Mawr classes through the bi-co). Other names I've heard mentioned are Swarthmore, Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan, Oberlin, Barnard, Grinnell, and Holy Cross.

If you're willing to consider larger schools, Brown and UChicago both have relatively small, LAC-like undergraduate programs, and their classics departments are out of this world.

St. John's (MD/NM) doesn't have majors in the traditional sense, but their curriculum is pretty classics-heavy, and you may find it interesting as well.

golddustwoman · 10-11-2007, 08:34 PM

I'm actually applying to Reed, UChicago, and St. John's.

Those and New College of Florida.

Do you know of any less selective schools that have reputable classics departments? I really need a safety that actually has my major and doesn't cost $35k a year. XP

mythmom · 10-11-2007, 09:06 PM

SUNY Binghamton has a good Classics major and OOS tuition is really reasonable.

warblersrule86 · 10-12-2007, 08:47 AM

St. John's, to be blunt, has a pretty crappy Classics program. The literature is all in translation, and they only offer enough Greek and/or Latin to give you a rudimentary reading knowledge. All of the ancient literature is completed halfway through sophomore year, and they don't offer any courses in the other aspects of Classics.

Chicago has a good program, but it too has a very narrow focus. If you only want to study Greek and Roman literature, that may be fine. You might want to check out the Ancient Studies major instead, which would allow you to take courses in other departments as well, especially NELC.

Quote:

I really need a safety that actually has my major and doesn't cost $35k a year.

Most decent Classics programs are at private colleges, which unfortunately run $35-45k. I can think of a number of good safeties, but most of them are private.

Classics departments

I know you'd prefer a LAC, but you really should consider Arizona as a safety. It's cheap and has an outstanding Classics program.

KY Crusader 75 · 10-12-2007, 10:31 AM

Holy Cross also gives an annual full merit scholarship for study of Classics

mythmom · 10-12-2007, 10:39 AM

List is not comprehensive. Just at first glance, Barnard and Binghamton both omitted.

warblersrule86 · 10-12-2007, 10:43 AM

No, but it's the best I know of that provides direct links. Williams has a list, but it's only for graduate programs.

golddustwoman · 10-13-2007, 12:55 PM

Quote:

St. John's, to be blunt, has a pretty crappy Classics program. The literature is all in translation, and they only offer enough Greek and/or Latin to give you a rudimentary reading knowledge. All of the ancient literature is completed halfway through sophomore year, and they don't offer any courses in the other aspects of Classics.

Yeah, they don't have like art and archeology and those kinds of things, but "the program" as a whole is incredible, in my opinion.

To warblersrule86, as I live in Tucson, AZ I would never in my life ever want to go to the University of Arizona. I would be miserable there, even if I was in a great program.. O_o

KY Crusader 75, do you know how competitive the full scholarship to Holy Cross is?

KY Crusader 75 · 10-13-2007, 09:22 PM

I do not, sorry. I'd guess there are numerous applicants because HC is so well know for its Classics studies, but I cannot quote any stats for you. I believe that HC is a remarkable college but I'm biased, being a graduate and the father of a current junior. HC's very high graduation rate and percentage of alumni donors speak to how successful the college is in educating its students and how satisfied they are with their full college experience. Best advice is, time and budget permitting, is to visit a number of schools and make a judgement on where you'll feel comfortable, the ones that are a good fit. Wherever you make that match, you'll succeed. Fortunately many of the schools on the list that quaere provided for you are in Massachusetts, so you could hit them easily in a day or two. Good luck: try to find that perfect match.

AMB2005 · 10-15-2007, 01:17 AM

I have to agree with WarblersRule86: St. John's is not a good school for people who want to study or make a career out of classics. St. Johns has a great books program, which is great, but it doesn't offer the same education that a classics major receives.

I think it would be especially hard to get into graduate school in classics from St. John's (which I'm mentioning, because it seems most classics majors do want to go to graduate school...), because graduate schools ideally want 4 years of one ancient language, 3 years of the other ancient language, some modern languages, and of course civilization courses. But there are always post-baccalaureate programs.

I second Holy Cross as having an excellet classics program.

But I think the best way to determine the quality of a classics program, is to see how many ancient language classes they offer, and how frequently they are offered. Also, check to see how deep and specialized their classical civilization courses go.

golddustwoman · 10-15-2007, 06:25 PM

I'm actually not planning on pursuing a degree in classics at the master's level. The reason I'm interested in St. John's is because it includes classical literature and has the great books program.

AMB2005--do you know of a place where it would tell me about ancient languages offered and the classical civilization courses? Or would I need to scour the websites of colleges to find that information?

philoglossia · 01-02-2008, 10:43 PM

If you google the phrase "undergraduate classics programs" a list maintained at the ACL (American Classical League) website pops up.

I'm surprised Holy Cross hasn't received more attention in this thread. Not only does it have the largest classics department of any LAC, it also gives out two full rides and a couple of partial ones every year for prospectives in the classics. Boston University gives four full and two partial.

Of course, both of the above require you to have had a reasonable amount of Latin and/or Greek in high school. If you're interested in classical civilization (i.e. history and art without a lot of linguistic work) things are rather different.

bjfcool · 01-03-2008, 10:26 AM

Ohio University in Athens Ohio is very solid and would be a safety but it is a bigger school.

SPQR08 · 04-27-2008, 01:11 PM

Colgate deserves attention. The department and classes are small and intimate, and the professors are brilliant. They don't fool around, either. A full Classics major is one of the most rigorous in the Humanities Division at Colgate, and guest lecturers are always amazed when they sit in on our classes because we're so much better than their home institutions. When we go to Classics student conferences, our papers are always more intellectual than the students from other schools because we don't have senior seminars on, say, Homeric influences in "Blade Runner," like at Hamilton College. From what I hear, Bryn Mawr and Michigan are great for archeology. Colgate excels in philology and philosophy on the undergraduate level.