Classics

A classics degree from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, will help prepare you for success in a broad range of career paths. You will explore great literary texts, major philosophical ideas, political theory and practice, gender and sexuality, the nature of war and diplomacy and the power of architecture and the fine arts.

 Our students develop a very marketable set of skills—textual analysis, careful attention to detail, greater command of English vocabulary including technical terminology, expert writing, clear and cogent reasoning, effective use of evidence and familiarity with a variety of scholarly methods of investigation. Students also will develop broad historical and cultural perspectives.

John Svarlien, Professor of Classics

The classics major will broaden and develop your knowledge and understanding of the Greco-Roman world and make you more aware of the powerful ways the material and written remains of ancient Greece and Rome, reinterpreted across more than two millennia of classical scholarship, have shaped Western thinking, culture, society and politics.

You will examine challenging questions in a large historical frame, work with different literary genres and fields (epigraphy, textual criticism, numismatics) and develop the knowledge and skills to work critically with primary evidence and modern scholarship as you develop your own positions on complex issues. In the process, you will pick up the habits of a liberal arts student, including curiosity and a creative and disciplined open-mindedness.

Where Our Graduates Have Studied

Florida State University
University of Chicago
University of Pittsburgh
University of Kentucky
University of Louisville

Opportunities in the Major

Sodalitas Classics Club
Chapter of National Classics Honorary Eta Sigma Phi
Presenting research at conferences

Courses of Special Interest

Augustan Rome
Diplomacy and War in Antiquity
Greek and Roman Mythology
Ancient Medicine
Birth of Fantasy Literature
Gender and Sexuality
Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Spartacus

Possible Career Options

Analyst in a variety of fields
Attorney
Museum curator
Professional Writer
Publishing
Teaching

Semester Study Abroad Opportunities

Australia I
Greece
Ireland
Italy
New Zealand

These GlobalTransy programs have at least two courses related to the major.

Interested in studying abroad for a summer? Take a look at our summer study abroad opportunities.

Contacts

David Kaufman, Associate Professor of Philosphy and Classics; Program Director

(859) 281-3551

Humanities Administrative Assistant
Carpenter Academic Center, Transylvania University
300 North Broadway
Lexington, KY 40508 USA

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