<p>I am almost certain that I want to be a Mathematics Major; I have loved the subject all my life and I feel that I wouldn’t mind dedicating the rest of my life to studying it. However, I have always had an interest in Greek and Roman civilization, so I was wondering whether double majoring in Classics/Math or Majoring in Math and Minoring in the Classics would be worthwhile. Also, which schools have strong departments in both fields?</p>
<p>Major in Math and read some Classics book during your free time.</p>
<p>Yes, a double major or major/minor would be worthwhile.</p>
<p>For Classics, at many schools, you can do a major in the original languages (Greek and/or Latin) or a major in Classical Civilization. A major in Classical Civilization is somewhat broader than a traditional Classics major focused on languages and literature; it covers literature, history, archaeology, etc. and might or might not require some coursework in original languages.</p>
<p>There are many schools with strong departments in both fields. Suggestions for schools would depend on what is the best fit for you in terms of selectivity, size, location (rural, suburban, urban; region), finances, etc. If you are interested in LACs, I would suggest that you consider how many professors are in the Classics dept. For example, a dept with only a couple of professors could provide only limited course offerings and you could run into a problem if you don’t get along with one or both professors----just something to consider. However, even at many large universities, one advantage of the Classics depts is that you can have a lot of access to professors since the depts might be relatively small compared to other fields.</p>
1 Like
<p>Math versus classical languages is an either/or proposition for a normal college student. Both are very difficult and tend to blow students away. Classical civilization, on the other hand, can be one of the easier majors to complete. Classical languages is the path to grad school for the absolute top students but classical civilization is for having a good time with a BA at the end.</p>
<p>Unless you are sure you want to study Latin and Greek go for a BS in math and a minor in classical civ.</p>
<p>^ Don’t let them deter you. Statistically speaking, you will take one or two courses on classical civilizations; after reading 15 books on the subject, your curiosity is satisfied and you’ll decide to drop the double major. I am not concerned about losing a mathematician to classics! :)</p>
<p>I will say that choosing a university based on the strength of their classics department is a silly idea unless you are very committed to the classics major or have no other way to break the tie. It doesn’t take a genius to teach intro courses. The strength of the department would matter to you if you were interested in advanced coursework and needed impactful letters of recommendation for your graduate school application. It won’t matter for the courses you’d take for a minor.</p>
<p>Clearly, the OP’s interests are not limited to mathematics. How deep the OP’s interest runs in either field remains to be seen. Many students change majors after being exposed to a new field, or because they are “selected” out of a field in which they intended to major. So, “statistically speaking” it’s probably more common for students to switch from science and math fields to other fields.</p>
<p>For those reasons, it’s generally a good idea to choose a school based on its strengths across a broad range of fields of potential interest. It’s not silly at all to consider the strength of a school’s classics department. No one suggesting that the OP choose a school solely for its classics dept., but why not choose a school that is strong in both math and classics? There are, in fact, many very good schools with strong programs in both areas, so there should be no shortage of schools to consider. While it’s true that the strength of a classics dept. will matter much less for a minor, it would matter for a second major in classics. </p>
<p>Math is a great field as it’s the gateway to so many other fields, and, of course, it results in relatively better employment than non-quantitative fields. Nonetheless, pursuing both a quantitative field and a humanistic field seems like a winning combination in terms of one’s education. One can’t always predict where one’s exploration of a field of interest will lead. A strong classics dept. isn’t just of value in pursuing graduate study in classics. It’s also a great preparation for several other academic and professional fields, including law, philosophy, linguistics, history, religious studies, history of science, archaeology, and, comparative literature, among others.</p>
1 Like
<p>To specify, I am a sophomore now and this is my third year of Latin. In addition, I have taken the NLE all three years and have scored three gold medals, scoring a perfect paper this year. </p>
<p>Though on the other hand, I’m in AP Calculus BC now and I’m at the top of my class, and I plan to dual enroll at a local university for further math courses.</p>