Degree Requirements
Master of Arts in Classics
For admission to candidacy students must present satisfactory evidence of completion of a substantial number of courses in Greek and Latin in their undergraduate program. The graduate program will consist of a minimum of eight courses including at least two seminars in Greek and Latin or Classics, and completion of a thesis which shall be an original investigation of some literary, historical, archaeological or linguistic topic. Competence must be demonstrated in French or German.
Doctor of Philosophy in Classics
The discipline of Classics entails a breadth --and depth-- of focus that is nearly unparalleled. In proceeding to the doctoral degree, each student has the opportunity to enrich his or her knowledge of many aspects of Greek and Latin literature, history, and culture, as well as related fields (e.g., Sanskrit, archaeology, epigraphy). The major steps through which one attains this knowledge, however, vary from program to program. The following section will outline the requirements for progressing through the Ph.D. course at Brown University. Statements in quotes are excerpted from the departmental handbook for graduate study.
A. Course Work
"The student must acquire a minimum of 18 regular course credits in Classics, including at least 6 graduate seminars with departmental faculty. At least one seminar in Latin and one in Greek is required." The content of this course work is determined to some degree (see section B, 'Area Requirements'), but a wide variety of course offerings ensures that latitude is available for tailoring study to personal academic interests. Normally, four courses are taken each semester in the first year, and then declining amounts in later semesters as the student is additionally managing teaching duties, etc.
B. Area Requirements
1. Prose Composition in Greek and Latin
"Students should demonstrate competence in prose composition in at least one of the two ancient languages by the end of the first year and in the other by the end of the second year." This may be done in two ways; one is by an examination, which may be a "'take-home project'...executed over the course of a semester, with the assistance of lexica and other aids." The requirement is more often fulfilled, however, by passing courses in Prose Composition for each of the languages.
2. Archaeology
This requirement may be satisfied "(a) by completing an advanced archaeology course in the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World or an epigraphy course in the Classics Dept.; (b) by examination; (c) by participation in the summer or regular program of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, or in the summer program in Italian archaeology at the American Academy in Rome, or by work at other institutions after consultation with the Graduate Adviser."
3. Greek or Roman History
This requirement may be "satisfied by successfully completing a one-year course in Greek or Roman History, or by examination (i.e., the two final exams for the year-long course or an equivalent)."
C. Exams in Ancient and Modern Languages
1. Translation Exams in Greek and Latin
"These consist of three hours of Greek and three hours of Latin translation in separate exams. Each examination includes six passages, three of prose, three of poetry, at least half of which will come from works on the Reading List. ...The examinations are given three times yearly, in September, in the first weeks of December, and in the first weeks of May. ...[It is expected] that most students will be able to pass both of these exams by the conclusion of their third year."
2. Modern Languages
A reading knowledge of German, and of either French or Italian, should be attained as early as possible. "Students should be prepared to prove competence in at least one of these languages upon entering the degree program; competence in the other must be proved no later than the fourth semester...by passingan exam administered by a faculty member or by receiving an honors grade in German 12 ('German for Reading') and in similar courses in French and Italian when they are offered. ...Exams ordinarily last an hour."
D. Teaching Requirement
"It is an integral part of graduate trainng and professional preparation in Classics to gain teaching experience. Two semesters of teaching are therefore required of all graduate students." Teaching opportunities within the department vary; often, assignments progress from TA (teaching assistant) duties of working with a professor, grading and facilitating discussion sections, to TF (teaching fellow; a higher stipend obtains) positions where the graduate student teaches a semester-long language course (usually introductory or second-year level) on their own.
E. Preliminary Examinations
1. Special Authors
"Consists of two written examinations (three hours each), one on a Greek author or topic and the other on a Latin author or topic; at least one exam must focus on an author. [These exams may be taken] only after the Translation Exams and the other Prerequisites (A-D above) have been passed. Preparation for these three-hour exams should not extend for more than a year and is undertaken in regular consultation with a faculaty member selected by the student."
2. Oral Examination
"The student is expected to have read in the original language the materials on the departmental Reading List and to be familiar with the history of Greek and Roman literature as it is presented in the standard works on the subject. The oral examination consists of two halves, each of 90 minutes duration, ...[consisting] of three segments each--archaic, classical and post-classical Greek literature; and Latin literature of the Republic, Augustan period, and Empire...Students shouls aim at passing this examination no later than the end of the fourth year." The examination committee consists of three faculty members--a Greek and a Latinexaminer and a chair/timekeeper--selected by the student in consultation with the Graduate Adviser. This committee also serves to approve the dissertation topic.
F. The Dissertation
Upon passing the oral preliminary examination, the candidate proceeds to dissertation work in consultation with an adviser and two additional readers. "The dissertation shall be a substantial and original investigation of some literary, historical, philosophical, linguistic or archaeological topic...A formal defense of the thesis is required by the university, and candidates will (save in unusual circumstances) defend their work before members of the Department of Classics."