Department of Classics

Classics is the study of the civilizations of Greece and Rome, and is the founding discipline of the liberal arts tradition.

The Classics department at Connecticut College will host the annual meeting of the Classical Association of New England (CANE) on March 14,15, 2008. Please contact Professor Richard Moorton for information.

The Classics Department offers courses in Greek and Latin from the elementary through advanced levels. You may begin the study of either at Connecticut College, and by the second year will be reading primary texts of the principal Greek and Latin authors. Students entering with credits in the languages will be able to begin at the intermediate or advanced level.

In addition the department offers a broad range of Classics courses in English, covering many areas of Greek and Roman culture including literature (epic, tragedy, comedy), mythology, history and philosophy.

There are three possible tracks for Classics majors:

(i) Classical Languages, with emphasis on Latin, Greek, or a combination of both;

(ii) Classics and Related Studies, which combines courses in Greek or Latin with a coherent set of courses in a related discipline, for example art history or literature;

(iii) Classical Civilization, a program which is less language intensive than the other two and includes a substantial selection of Classics courses in English.

The Classics Department encourages majors to spend some study time abroad. Students may study for a semester or a year in Rome or in Athens or do so in a summer program.

Graduates with Classics degrees pursue diverse careers or pursue graduate work. They benefit from rigorous intellectual training along with exposure to challenging ideas and the inspiring artistic and literary products of the classical world.

Recent classics graduates have been accepted by Ph.D. programs at Harvard, University of Chicago, Duke, and UCLA. See the article about Michael Pawlik '02 .