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Classics and Ancient History

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A graduate in classics or ancient history typically will have the ability to:

  • understand another culture and a complementary range of subjects such as language, literature, linguistics, philosophy, history, art and archaeology
  • command techniques and methodologies such as bibliographical and library research skills, a range of skills in reading and textual analysis, the varieties of historical method, the visual skills characteristic of art criticism, use of statistics, philosophical argument and analysis, analytical grasp of language, and skills in translation from and/or into Greek and/or Latin
  • understand a range of viewpoints and critical approaches
  • exercise reflection and critical judgment
  • gather, memorise, organise and deploy information
  • extract key elements from data and identify and solve associated problems
  • engage in analytical, evaluative and lateral thinking and to marshal argument
  • present material orally and in writing
  • work with others, work under pressure and meet deadlines
  • apply modern foreign language skills and basic IT skills
  • demonstrate autonomy manifested in self-direction, self-discipline and intellectual initiative.

The subject area of classics and ancient history (including also Byzantine studies and modern Greek) embraces two distinct, though by no means unrelated, components, which give it a chronological span of at least four millennia. Classics is a conventional designation for the culture of Greco-Roman antiquity, extending from the arrival of Greek-speakers in mainland Greece around the beginning of the second millennium BC to the end of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD. Byzantine studies is concerned with the civilization of late antique and mediaeval Byzantium/Constantinople between its refounding by Constantine in AD 324 and its conquest by the Turks in AD 1453, while Modern Greek designates study of the Greek speaking world (including the Greek diaspora) from the late mediaeval period.

Classics usually designates a degree programme in which students are required to show proficiency in both ancient Greek and the Latin languages and may make Greek and Latin literature their main focus. Latin and Greek signify degree programmes of the same general kind as Classics but confined to the language, literature and civilisation of ancient Rome and ancient Greece respectively. Programmes in classical studies offer students a broad understanding of the culture of Greco-Roman antiquity as a whole, in all its different aspects and their interrelations. Programmes in ancient history are typically concerned with the political, military, economic, social and cultural history of the Greco-Roman world. Programmes in Byzantine studies pay special attention to literature, theology or culture, or to history, archaeology or art history of the Byzantine period, while those in modern Greek require proficiency in the modern Greek language and take as their main concern the language, literature, thought and history of the Greek speaking world since the later middle ages.

There is creative interaction with other disciplines and fields including anthropology, archaeology, art history, drama, English, history, history of science, Jewish and Near Eastern studies, linguistics, modern languages besides modern Greek, philosophy and religious studies.

The subject has a particularly important contribution to make in a multicultural society and it has done much to shape our conceptions of what an educational system should be.

Many classics graduates regard the skills they can offer and their interests and motivations as more important than their degree subject. Most classics graduates enter careers that seek graduates of any discipline. Examples include applications developer, archivist, accountant, Civil Service fast stream, Diplomatic Service, commissioning editor, curator, teacher, solicitor and technical author.

To check the growing range of resources produced by the Subject Centre to support employability and the use of this profile (including the Skills and Attributes map) go to www.hca.heacademy.ac.uk.

This profile, produced in 2006, is based on the QAA benchmark to be found at www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/honours/default.asp


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