Department of Classics
Tales of the Looted
With a new podcast, Associate Professor of Classics Zoë Kontes examines the stories behind illicit antiquities.
Theater of War
Bryan Doerries '98 shares with Harper's Magazine how the power of classics can ease the suffering of those who have endured trauma…
The Eloquent Art
Rhetoric in Antiquity with Adam SerfassIn “Rhetoric in Antiquity,” theory springs to life as students cultivate a taste for language’s endless possibilities.
Tops in Teaching
Classics professor Zoe Kontes received the Trustee Teaching Excellence Award at the 2014 Honors Day Convocation.
The study of the classics concerns the one fixed point of reference in the liberal arts: the origins. Courses in the classics acquaint students with the languages, literatures and civilizations of Greece and Rome.
Embracing all aspects of antiquity, classics is an interdisciplinary field at whose core lies the study of Latin and Greek. Any inquiry into the Western intellect and imagination looks toward antiquity and does so to greatest advantage through the lucid windows of the original languages. A knowledge of the classics enhances understanding in a variety of disciplines, including art and architecture, history, political science, philosophy and religion.
The department teaches a range of classes. Every semester, Greek and Latin are offered at the elementary, intermediate and advanced levels. Each year the department offers a course in mythology, a senior seminar, a survey of Greek or Roman history, a survey of Greek or Roman literature in translation, and a survey of Greek or Roman archaeology. In addition, the department regularly offers courses in topics of special interest.