For more information on secondary fields, contact the department at 617-495-4027 or Emma Dench, director of graduate studies, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Classical Archaeology

The field of classical archaeology is understood to cover Aegean, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art, architecture, and archaeology. Recognition of a Secondary Field in Classical Archaeology requires four half-courses, of which one may be replaced by participation in an approved summer program. To pursue a Secondary Field in Classical Archaeology will provide a candidate with a substantial knowledge of ancient Mediterranean material culture and its analysis.

For students in other disciplines, enrollment will offer the opportunity to explore the classical world through its unique complement of physical remains, from field survey and excavation to museum studies, and in peculiarly archaeological pursuits (e.g., the analysis of pottery and artifact assemblages) as well as the history of art and architecture, numismatics, and epigraphy.

Requirements

• Four half-courses. Qualifying courses include those taught within the Departments of the Classics and History of Art and Architecture and accepted by the Department of the Classics towards the requirements of Classical Archaeology.
• Two courses must be entitled, or officially cross-listed as, Classical Archaeology (prefixed ClArch).
• Two shall be graduate seminars, and at least one of the four shall be on a Greek topic and another on a Roman topic.
• Students are encouraged to take Classical Archaeology 351: Classical Archaeology Proseminar, or Classics 350: Classical Philology Proseminar.
• For spring term 2007, such courses will include, but are not necessarily confined to: Classical Archaeology 244r (Mitten: Small Greek Bronze Sculptures of the Human Figure).
• Students may petition to apply one course in Anthropology, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, or the Divinity School towards the requirements of the secondary field. The archaeological summer programs offered by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the American Academy in Rome, and the Graduate Summer Seminar of the American Numismatic Society will normally be accepted in lieu of one half-course.*
• Students pursuing a secondary field in Classical Archaeology are also strongly encouraged to participate in an archaeological field school or to serve as a curatorial intern in a museum of art or archaeology.

*Rationale for offering credit for ASCSA/AAR summer programs: students pursuing the PhD in Classical Archaeology are required to spend one year in residence at the American Academy in Rome and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. We believe this is an appropriate substitute for a secondary field.

Classical Philology

The field of Classical Philology is historically grounded in the fused heritage of ancient Greek and Roman civilization, as represented primarily by the surviving Greek and Latin texts. That heritage extends beyond its ancient contexts into late antiquity, into the medieval world of western Europe as well as the Byzantine empire, into the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and even into modernity and postmodernity. In short, this field centers on the historical core of Western Civilization, embracing both the literary and the non-literary evidence.

The methodology is primarily text-based and language-based; subfields include palaeography, papyrology, historical linguistics, rhetoric, poetics, literary criticism, and philosophy. Students in this field will normally study either the Greek or the Latin texts, though they may choose to study both.

• Four half-courses from among the following categories, of which two shall be graduate seminars; courses taught primarily in translation are ineligible:

Greek and Roman History

The field of Greek and Roman history, sometimes known as Ancient History, used to be seen as part of The Western heritage or Western Civilization, but now can be interpreted as part of an interlocking series of histories that go back in time to the second millennium BCE and extend at least to 500 CE. Geographically and culturally, Greek and Roman history are closely interconnected, but also link up with the contemporaneous histories of other regions (Central Asia, India, China, northern Europe, Africa). They also have a special call on modern attention in that the development of so many modern systems and institutions was affected or even determined by their ancient stage (Christianity is one obvious example, democracy another).

• Four half-courses from the following categories (normally, at least one course will involve close reading of historical texts in the original language, but this requirement may be waived at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies in Classics):

• For spring term 2007, such courses will include, but are not necessarily confined to, the following: