Taper Hall of Humanities 224
(213) 740-3676 or 740-3677
FAX: (213) 740-7360
E-mail: classics@bcf.usc.eduChair: Carolyn Dewald, Ph.D.
Faculty
Professors: Anthony J. Boyle, M.A. (Cantabr.); Richard Caldwell, Ph.D.; Thomas N. Habinek, Ph.D.; Frank Lewis, Ph.D. (Philosophy); Amy Richlin, Ph.D.*; William G. Thalmann, Ph.D.
Associate Professors: Carolyn Dewald, Ph.D.*; Vincent Farenga, Ph.D.; Roger Woodard, Ph.D.
Assistant Professors: Clifford Ando, Ph.D.; Phiroze Vasunia, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Emerita: Jane Cody, Ph.D.
Associate Faculty with Titles in Classics
Jerold C. Frakes, Ph.D. (German); Dermot Brendan Nagle, Ph.D. (History); John Pollini, Ph.D. (Art History)*Recipient of university-wide or college teaching award.
The curriculum of the Classics Department is designed to transmit a knowledge and an appreciation of the civilizations of the Greeks and the Romans - their languages and literatures, myths, philosophies and political thought - as well as to develop an understanding of the ways in which the classical heritage has manifested itself in later ages. Approximately one half of the department's classes are taught in English; these have to do with broad areas of civilization, including classical culture and literature. The remainder are courses in language and literature taught from the original Greek and Latin texts.
Undergraduate Degrees
The undergraduate classics major gives the student an understanding of the cultures, languages and literatures of ancient Greece, Rome and the Mediterranean world. The student may choose from among four different tracks emphasizing different aspects of the study of the ancient world: civilization and society; literature and mythology; Greek language, literature and culture; and Latin language, literature and culture.
Classics is a broadly interdisciplinary field. Most courses focus on ancient Greece and Rome, but students in the department also study the impact of classical cultures on later societies and the interactions among various ancient cultures. USC is a member of the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies and the College Year in Athens program, and classics majors are encouraged to spend a semester in Rome or Athens. The classics major is also encouraged to explore courses in allied fields such as ancient philosophy, history, comparative literature and art history.
Classics Department Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts
All classics majors are required to take two of the following three introductory courses: CLAS 150 The Greeks and the West, CLAS 151 Civilization of Rome, COLT 150x Literature and Western Civilization. In addition all majors must have completed one of the two elementary language sequences (including GR 220 or LAT 222).
All majors must take seven additional courses from the list maintained by the classics undergraduate advisor. Of these seven, at least five must be courses offered by the Classics Department (i.e., CLAS, LAT, GR), at least six must be numbered 300 or above, and four must fall into a single track. In selecting courses from allied fields (anthropology, art history, comparative literature, English, history, Judaic studies, linguistics, philosophy, political science, religion, gender studies), the student must work closely with the classics undergraduate advisor. Course work in departments other than classics must be approved in advance by the undergraduate advisor in order to count for major credit.
Track 1: Civilization and Society
Sample departmental offerings in this track are as follows:All Greek or Latin language courses numbered 300 or above
CLAS 300 Women in Antiquity CLAS 300 Women in Antiquity CLAS 305 Roman Law CLAS 320 Diversity and the Classical Western Tradition CLAS 333 Cult and City in Ancient Greece CLAS 348 The Athenian Century For specific applicable courses in anthropology, art history, gender studies, history, Judaic studies, philosophy, political science, and religion, see the classics undergraduate advisor.
Track 2: Literature and Mythology
Sample departmental offerings in this track are as follows:
All Greek or Latin language courses numbered 300 or above
CLAS 280 Classical Mythology CLAS 280 Classical Mythology CLAS 325 Ancient Epic CLAS 337 Ancient Drama CLAS 340 Dreams and Myths: The Psychoanalysis of Mythology CLAS 348 The Athenian Century For specific applicable courses in art history, comparative literature, English, and linguistics, see the classics undergraduate advisor.
Track 3: Greek Language, Literature and Culture
Sample departmental offerings in this track are as follows:
All Greek courses numbered 300 and above (two Greek courses numbered 300 or above must form part of this track)
CLAS 300 Women in Antiquity CLAS 325 Ancient Epic CLAS 337 Ancient Drama CLAS 340 Dreams and Myths: The Psychoanalysis of Mythology CLAS 348 The Athenian Century For specific applicable courses in art history, comparative literature, history, philosophy, and religion, see the classics undergraduate advisor.
Track 4: Latin Language, Literature and Culture
Sample departmental offerings in this track are as follows:
All Latin courses numbered 300 and above (two Latin courses numbered 300 or above must form part of this track)
CLAS 300 Women in Antiquity CLAS 305 Roman Law CLAS 325 Ancient Epic CLAS 337 Ancient Drama For specific applicable courses in art history, comparative literature, history, and religion, see the classics undergraduate advisor.
Classics Department Minor
The classics department minor requires one semester of either Greek or Latin at any level, plus one introductory civilization course (CLAS 150, CLAS 151 or COLT 150), plus three additional CLAS, GR or LAT courses in any one track (see above for tracks).
Classics Department Minor
The classics department minor requires one language course at the 100-level or above.One course from either A or B:
A.
CLAS 280 Classical Mythology CLAS 150 The Greeks and the West CLAS 151 Civilization of Rome
B.Second and third semester Latin or Greek courses:
GR 150 Greek II GR 220 Greek III LAT 150 Latin II LAT 151 Latin III Four upper-division courses (16 units) drawn from classics course offerings in classics, Latin or Greek
Total: 6 courses
Students Anticipating Graduate Study in Classics
Students interested in attending graduate school in classics are advised to take as many courses in Greek and/or Latin as possible.
Advisement
Because of the great flexibility built into the classics major, students are required to have their course schedule approved by the undergraduate advisor every semester. Students must have a total of 32 upper division units (8 four-unit courses) to graduate at USC and 24 upper division units (6 four-unit courses) in their major.
Graduate Degrees
The graduate program in classics at USC aims to train students to become scholars, teachers and interpreters of ancient Mediterranean civilizations, of the Greek and Latin languages and literatures, and of the traditions that have developed from them. In order to prepare the student to work in a variety of intellectual contexts, the department seeks to provide both a traditional substantive training in classical philology and the intellectural flexibility that will enable them to make the accomplishments of the past available to audiences of the present.
The department offers the Ph.D. in Classics (Greek and Latin) and the M.A. in Greek, Latin and Classics. Collateral offerings are available in related departments, such as comparative literature, history, philosophy, art history, English and anthropology.
The graduate program offers mastery of traditional philological and linguistic skills as a basis for the study of ancient cultures, with emphasis on literature, other discursive practices and material culture. Students are encouraged to explore interdisciplinary approaches to classical studies and the relations between classics and other fields. Courses in related departments are recommended and degree requirements permit students to develop individual interests.
Admission Requirements
An applicant for admission will normally have an undergraduate major in classics, but programs may be arranged for promising students who do not. The student should have an undergraduate record satisfactory to the department. At least three letters of recommendation from the student's undergraduate teachers should be sent to the chair of the department. All applicants are required to take the verbal and quantitative general tests of the Graduate Record Examinations.
Degree Requirements
These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to the Requirements for Graduation section and the Graduate School. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.
All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.
Master of Arts in Classics
Work toward the M.A. consists of six four-unit courses (24 units) and a thesis and oral defense, or the M.A. comprehensive examination. Two of the core seminars are required and five of the six courses must be taken in the Department of Classics. Under the guidance of a faculty committee, the student elects those courses appropriate to individual areas of special interest and previous academic preparation.
Doctor of Philosophy in Classics
Sixty units of course work are required. Of these ordinarily at least 48 will be taken in the USC Department of Classics. Course work, exams and individual research projects are organized into a three-year cycle of 12 core courses. The final two years of the five-year program are reserved for dissertation preparation. At the end of each of the first three years a student will sit for a portion of the preliminary examinations, with all preliminary exams to be completed by the end of the third year. In addition, at the end of each of the first three years students present before a jury of internal and external examiners an individual research project. A substantial dissertation prospectus will be submitted within six months of the completion of course work, and an oral examination offered by the student's five-member guidance committee will be based on the prospectus.
The core program is as follows, and a student may enter at any time in the three-year sequence.
Greek Year Units CLAS 540 Seminar in Early Greek Literature 4 CLAS 545 Seminar in Theoretical Approaches to Greek Culture and Literature 4 CLAS 550 Seminar in Classical and Hellenistic Literature 4 CLAS 555 Seminar in Greek History, Culture, and Society 4 Latin Year Units CLAS 560 Seminar in Republican Latin Literature 4 CLAS 565 Seminar in Theoretical Approaches to Roman Culture and Literature 4 CLAS 570 Seminar in Imperial Latin Literature 4 CLAS 575 Seminar in Roman History, Culture, and Society 4 Theory, Skills, Methods Year Units CLAS 510 Seminar in Classical Philology 4 CLAS 515 Topics in Classical Scholarship 4 CLAS 520 Approaches to Antiquity 4 CLAS 525 Studies in Ancient and Pre-Modern Cultures 4 Under the Johns Hopkins-USC Exchange Program in Classics, graduate students at either university may spend one or two semesters at the other school. USC students must obtain a cross-registration form from the Resource Sharing Coordinator in the USC Graduate School, Grace Ford Salvatori Hall 315, obtain signed approval and return the forms to the Graduate School. Students then enroll in USC 700o Off-Campus Studies, CR/NC, through the USC Office of the Dean of Academic Records and Registrar. At the conclusion of the semester(s), the Johns Hopkins instructors will report the student's grades to the USC Graduate School Resource Sharing Coordinator. Credit (CR) will be granted only for work completed with a grade of B or higher. The student's transcript will show that the courses were taken at Johns Hopkins and also record the names of the courses..
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