What Is Classics?
Find out if the study of antiquities is the right major for you
There are centuries of ancient history to study, but many people are drawn to the antiquity of ancient Greece and Rome. Antiquity, or the study of the ancient past, is rich with information and insight from these two civilizations.
A proper foundation and education is necessary to uncover the ancient world, and the University of Cincinnati has just the program for students to unravel the mysteries of the past and point out the connections of today.
Housed in UC's College of Arts and Sciences, the classics program boasts world-renowned faculty and access to many professional resources. Many classics students began their UC experience outside of classics but came to love the variety of skills and lessons to learn.
William T. Semple
When William T. Semple assumed leadership of the department in 1920, he envisioned the study of classical antiquity as a single discipline in which the historical and archaeological aspects of the subject were equally as important as the linguistic and literary approaches.
He and his wife, Louise Taft Semple, gifted the department an endowment fund, intending to shape the finest classics department in North America. A result of that endowment was the Louise Taft Semple Scholarship, which covers in-state tuition and is available to incoming and current students.
The department has two majors: classics and classical civilization. The classics major is language, literature, and prose intensive, whereas the civilization major focuses on the ancient civilizations. Minors and certificates are also available.
You may wonder, “why study ancient Greece and Rome?” Associate professor and classics undergraduate director Marion Kruse has the answer.
“There is ancient history in Mesoamerica and Africa and Asia, but we can't study all of those ancient histories equally. The literature and the sources to study the ancient Greek and Roman worlds actually survived,” said Kruse.
“And that allows us to study these ancient societies in the way we can. Like no other ancient societies, or maybe just a handful, and never at the kind of depth and scale that we can study. The Greeks and the Romans. So that's part one. We just can study them. And two, the ancient world to me has always been deeply fascinating.”
Real-world experience
Outside the classroom, the program connects students with antiquity scholars and outside resources across the globe. On-site, the program hosts the recently renovated Burnam Classical Library, the world’s most comprehensive classics library of about 300,000 volumes.
The Tytus Fellowship brings nine to twelve researchers to the department every year for students to meet and network. There is also an outreach program that sends faculty and graduate students to many area schools.
The prestige of the classics department gives students an edge in their search for experience.
Hunter Torosian. Photo/Provided
Hunter Torosian, a fifth-year classics major and Semple Scholar, was selected last semester for an internship in Washington, D.C., as part of the Critical Threats Project, an open-source foreign intelligence operation providing analysis and intel on global issues to various levels of the public and government.
“While participating in this program as part of the Iran Team, I discovered that the Intelligence Community purposely seeks out Classics majors, as we learn many skills applicable to translations and long-term cultural analysis. I came to realize that the linguistic skills acquired through Classics are a perfect prerequisite for cryptology,” Torosian said.
With an “absolutely fruitful” internship for his professional and educational goals, Torosian said, scholars and recruiters continue to offer him tips for graduate school and refer him for internships. Although he’s found his home in the classics, he was a major journeyman, fluctuating through majors before landing on classics.
“I eventually decided on classics because I felt that it would be the best choice for my goals of pursuing both a PhD and a JD, allowing me to work in the legal side of the intelligence community. It was a combination of these factors with drew me to UC and made me proud to stay here.”
Matt Wabler. Photo/Provided
The department offers a wide range of study-abroad experiences. Matt Wabler, a fourth-year classical civilizations major and Semple Scholar, has seen his fair share of time at sites of ancient Greece and Rome.
“I’ve done three seasons of archaeological excavation, one in Sardinia, one at Marathon, and one at the Athenian Agora, and a full academic year at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,” said Wabler.
“I’ve been able to do months of archaeological field work and lab work, travel throughout Greece and Italy, learn both ancient and modern languages, and truly experience the ancient world hands-on.”
“Whether you decide to study ancient languages, literature, culture, or archaeology, you’ll have many different opportunities for international study through the classics department,” said Wabler.
Teaching ancient languages to kids is like giving them a time machine into the past - and I get to be their tour guide!
Michelle Martinez, UC classics grad and current high school classics teacher
Recently, Wabler gained more hands-on archaeological experience from excavations at Tharros. Now, he is working on a study of the city’s coins with associate professor and director of excavations Steven Ellis.
“My experience in the major has been fantastic and has even surpassed my expectations - there are a wide variety of courses to choose from on languages and literature, archaeology, and the ancient Mediterranean world in general,” said Wabler. “And the department’s faculty are excellent teachers who are always invested in their students and their success.”
Notable Classes
Students may choose either major or both to complete during undergrad. With many courses to offer, students will have the chance to tailor their schedules to their educational and professional interests.
Both majors require Intensive Latin 1, and once a sequence has been determined, students will plan out their classes accordingly. Students interested in the classics major can look forward to courses titled Vergil’s Aeneid and Homer.
A fan-favorite track of mythology has attracted many students, both in and outside the department.
“Lots of students are interested in mythology. Ancient Roman mythology, specifically in Greek and Roman mythology, because it's the basis of so much later literature, right?” Kruse said.
“These stories kind of work their way into so many different places, you'll find allusions to them all over later literature, especially English literature is just filled with this kind of stuff.”
Career and graduate possibilities
Graduates from the program have gone on to work in some of the following areas:
- Law
- Medicine
- Consulting
- Research
- Industry
- Business
- Public relations
- Publishing
- Public services
- Administration
- Foreign service
- Journalism
- Libraries
However, many classics students pursue academic careers, including graduate degrees in classics or related programs like philosophy or history. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the program, students are well equipped for work in multiple industries, such as business, medicine and law. Students develop high-level critical thinking, communication, reading and writing skills.
Take it from a graduate
Michelle Martinez. Photo/Provided
Michelle Martinez graduated from the program as a double major in classics and classical civilization in 2015. A former Louise Taft Semple Scholar, she now teaches Latin and Greek full time at her alma mater, the nationally ranked Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati. She credits her robust teaching style and methods to her time in the program and faculty and past students.
“The classics and classical civilizations majors give students the opportunity to examine the past critically using both textual and material evidence. If you feel compelled by thinking about the past and its effects on the present, classics is the major for you,” she said.
“Not only did UC Classics give me the tools to read Latin and Greek texts of all genres and time periods but I also learned how to examine material evidence in order to think about the ancient world as a complex whole,” said Martinez.
“Teaching ancient languages to kids is like giving them a time machine into the past - and I get to be their tour guide! My students learn how to read Latin, but they also make 3D models of Roman buildings, or replicas of frescoes from a Roman city like Herculaneum, or they compare and contrast our governmental structure to that of Rome.”
While a student, Martinez enjoyed multiple hands-on courses to grow her understanding of ancient languages and antiquity. “My classes with Professor Kathleen Lynch inspired me to teach about Greek symposium pottery and have my students paint their own pottery on flower pots,” said Martinez.
After graduating from the department, Martinez went to graduate school at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, to then share her love of antiquity to youth in Cincinnati. To her, “you couldn't ask for a better department or a better environment for scholarly pursuit!”
Featured Image at top: The Parthenon in Greece. Photo/Hans Reniers/Unsplash
