Major Description

The Major in Classical Studies (CLST) offers a multidisciplinary approach to the diverse and extraordinary civilizations of ancient Greece, Rome, and the broader Mediterranean world.  Students explore everything from politics and media, environment, religion, literature and reception, to art and material culture. They can participate in archaeological excavations, read inscriptions in Rome, study political drama in Athens, or use satellite imagery and Greek papyri to reconstruct the agricultural practices of ancient Egypt. Critical study of these ancient cultures in their original contexts - and the long shadows they cast into our own time - enriches our understanding of the present and offers new perspectives on contemporary challenges.  Students choose from three concentrations: Literature and Performance; History, Politics, and Social Justice; and Archaeology.  Each builds skills in integrative reasoning, writing, and competency in multi-disciplinary data analysis. All students develop proficiency in Latin or Greek and engage with original texts. The Department encourages study or fieldwork in the Mediterranean and offers funding for these opportunities.

Classical Studies students are drawn to the mysteries of the ancient past, but with a keen eye towards the problems of the present.  They demonstrate curiosity and creativity, attention to detail, and strong abilities in language, research, writing, and critical thinking. They have an adventurous side.

The major prepares students for work in any field. Recent majors have built successful careers in law, politics, medicine, media and communications, cultural heritage institutions, and government, as well as finance and technology. The department collaborates with the Gordon Career Center and maintains an active alumni network to support students after Wesleyan.

Admission to the Major

To declare the Major, students must complete a Major Declaration Form. The form is non-binding –interests and circumstances may change – but this important initial outline helps them to plan their prospective curricular pathway through the Classical studies program, and to envision the ways in which their work in Classics can connect with their other courses and interests at Wesleyan.

Students must first select which area of concentration they intend to pursue when they complete the Major Declaration Form. If they intend to apply a course (previously taken or planned) outside of the department towards their elective credit, they should identify the course and explain how it will be combined with the major course selections to form a meaningful curricular whole. 

After declaring, the student can ask a faculty member to be their major advisor or ask the Chair to make the assignment.

Students are not expected to have any background in Latin or Greek in high school to become Classical Studies majors. We recommend that potential majors start language study in their first year at Wesleyan. The elementary Latin sequence begins in the fall semester, and elementary Greek starts in the spring. If you have already taken some languages, you do not have to start over. We do not have a placement exam. Instead, you can talk with any of the Department faculty to determine which course would be best for you. The same is true for transfer students who have done work in Classical Studies at another institution.

Major Requirements

The Classical Studies Major requires a total of ten credits, four of which must be within their selected area of concentration (see Course Lists, below).
All Majors must take:

• Four credits in Language Courses (Latin or Greek, level 102 or higher). One of these must be at the 300-level. Two half-credit language courses may be counted together as one credit.

• One credit in Ancient History Survey, to be completed by the end of junior year.

• One credit in Material Culture.

• Two, 300-level seminars.

• Two electives. Students can apply one course from outside the department toward their concentration. They must first demonstrate its specific application to that concentration and obtain permission from the advisor

Area Concentration Requirements

Upon declaring the Major, students will determine which of the three concentration areas (Literature and Performance; History, Politics and Social Justice; or Archaeology and Archaeological  Science) they intend to pursue. The courses in which fall under each concentration are listed here. [The listings are subject to change.]

History, Politics, and Social Justice 

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
CLST202	Greek Drama: Theater and Social Justice, Ancient and Modern	1
CLST221	Law, Politics, and Order in the Ancient World	1
CLST221Z	Whose Rights? Law, Personhood, and Democracy, Ancient & Modern	1
CLST248	Language Matters: Etymology and the Roots of Social Injustice	1
CLST324	Tales of Hope or States of Delusion? Utopias, Past and Present	1
CLST255	Democracy and its Discontents	1
CLST363	Body Politics: Desire, Sexualities, and Gender, Past and Present	1
CLST327	Dangerous Acts: Theater, Transgression, and Social Justice, Ancient and Modern	1
LAT353	Demagogues and Tyrants in the Roman Historians	1
GRK205	Reading Greek Prose: Court Room Dramas, Selections from Athenian Oratory	1
CLST267	Disaster, Destruction, and Resilience in the Ancient World	1
GRK291	"Sexuality" in the Making: Gender, Law, and the Use of Pleasure in Ancient Greek Culture (CLAC.50)	.5
GRK365	Greek Tragedy: Euripides	1
CLST227	Humans and Other Animals	1

Archaeology and Archaeological Science

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
CLST201	Art and Archaeology of the Bronze Age Mediterranean	1
CLST214	Survey of Greek Archaeology and Art	1
CLST223	Survey of Roman Archaeology and Art	1
CLST283	Off with its Pedestal! The Greek Vase as Art and Artifact	1
CLST329	Roman Villa Life	1
CLST341	Visualizing the Classical	1
CLST352	Ancient Medicine: Potions, Poisons, and Phytochemistry in the Ancient Mediterranean	1
CLST390	Making Rome: Monuments of Life in Ancient Rome	1
LAT375	Set in Stone: Reading Roman Life through Inscriptions	1
GRK355	Homer in Bronze Age Context	1
CLST267	Disaster, Destruction, and Resilience in the Ancient World	1

Student Learning Goals

Classical Studies majors acquire the following skills: close reading and analysis of complicated evidence, both textual and material; the ability to identify and explain the most significant elements of such evidence; the ability to apply a variety of interpretive methods and to evaluate their effectiveness. Classical Studies majors also acquire an appreciation of linguistic registers and cultural differences, and a sense of perspective on urgent contemporary issues.

Students have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate their abilities through research and creative projects in the context of their courses, research tutorials, campus events, and presentations at conferences, among others.

Language Requirement

Majors in Classical Studies acquire an intermediate level of proficiency with either Latin or Greek. 

No experience in either language is required upon entry into the major, but, as noted above, students should plan to begin the language as soon as possible. Students with previous experience in either language should consult with the department chair for placement advice.

Additional Information

Honors

Students wishing to pursue Honors in the Major must complete a senior thesis or substantial essay. These are original research projects that deal directly with primary sources (in the form of archaeological data sets or texts in the original language), show knowledge of and critical engagement with current scholarship on the subject, and present an original argument developed in response to these sources. Both the thesis and the essay should be considered serious academic undertakings and students should plan to begin research and/or data collection in the semester or summer which precedes their senior year.

Students who intend to write a thesis should begin planning with their potential thesis advisor in the fall of their junior year, and must submit a thesis proposal to the Department by May 1 of their junior year. Students who wish to write a Senior Essay must submit their proposal to the Department by the end of the previous semester (May 1 for an essay to be written in the fall semester, November 15 for the spring). For details on the evaluation and awarding of Honors, consult the departmental website.

Capstone Experience

Upon completion of the major, students will complete a form where they will have the opportunity to explain changes in this initial trajectory and reflect briefly on their choices and development as a whole.