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Subject Information

Classics

Classics at Cambridge and at Murray Edwards College

The study of Ancient Greece and Rome is an opportunity to encounter two interactive cultures and societies which were radically different from our own but are still profoundly and directly relevant to us. All sorts of people through the ages have made their own relationships with the classical world and now here we are, joining the long line. A degree in Classics involves the widest variety of disciplines of all: brilliant poetry and prose texts, powerful histories and foundational philosophy; analytic and cultural history; archaeology and art history; the history of the classical languages; and multidisciplinary topics on the ancient world and its receptions.

The three year Classics degree begins with 'Part 1', which focuses on the acquisition of linguistic skills and the development of a broad understanding of the ancient world.

In the first year ('1A'), you improve and extend your grasp and experience of Greek and Latin texts, while getting a taster and a start in the range of disciplines that make up classical studies. Whether or not you have already studied any Greek or Latin at school, here at Cambridge we aim to get you reading texts for yourself in both languages, with confidence. Naturally, we expect you to be seriously committed to this goal, but we also reckon you will find (if you haven't already) that learning the ancient languages (or improving your knowledge of them) is a rewarding intellectual experience.

In the second year ('1B'), you work towards language papers of translation linking with literature papers organized round a set of topics (such as Dramatic Women, or Roman Humour), besides deepening your study of two subjects from Ancient History, Philosophy and Religion, Art and Archaeology, and Philology and Linguistics.

The final year - 'Part 2' - gives the opportunity for in-depth specialisation, but with a wide choice over a whole range of topics: permanent fixtures feature a paper allowing you to complete your reading of a Homeric epic or the Aeneid; papers on Plato and on Aristotle; Aegean Pre-History, and the Transformation of the Roman World; Comparative Linguistics; etc. Other recent papers include: Apollo and Dionysus; Pleasure; Magic and the Supernatural; Rome and the Greek East; the Classical Body in Art; Roman Cities; the Making of the Greek Language; Latin and the Greek Language; Death; Sexual Ethics; you also have the opportunity to research and submit instead of sitting one of the papers a dissertation on any classical subject which interests you.

  • Most applicants for this course have GCE A level, or AS level, or equivalent, in either Greek or Latin, or both, but each case is treated individually: if you have a very good grade in either GCSE Latin or Greek you are also encouraged to apply.

The four year degree in Classics is for students who come with no formal qualifications in either Greek or Latin. In the first year you concentrate on learning Latin up to post A-level standard, while getting an introduction to Roman literature, culture and history. In the second year, you join the Faculty's very successful intensive Greek programme along with most of the students on the three year course, and follow the '1A' programme, before moving through '1B' to 'Part 2' as outlined above.

  • At Murray Edwards College we are strongly committed to offering the opportunity to study Classics to every woman with the right flair and motivation, regardless of her previous training and experience, and we warmly welcome applications for this recently established course.

The Classics Faculty at Cambridge combines the highest research standards (we have a top 5* research rating: your teachers will include leading experts of today and the future in their fields) with a strong commitment to excellent teaching (the Faculty also achieved a top '24 rating' in the recent Teaching Quality Assessment). Lectures and Faculty language and reading classes take place in the Classics Faculty building (perhaps the best purpose-built centre for classics in the country); there, too, are the main Classics library, computer facilities (including recently developed computer aided text reading facilities), the Museum of Classical Archaeology, and a lively common room. The Classics Faculty is a friendly community with an active student society ('The Herodoteans').

College Teaching runs through each term, in pairs or small groups, at 'supervisions', which usually last an hour. These are the basic building blocks of your study and make a Cambridge degree special. Feeding off Faculty classes and lectures, they allow maximum flexibility and the chance to develop your own voice by setting your ideas alongside others' in a close-knit group setting. You write translations, pieces of criticism, and essays every week, meeting for discussion with your supervisors and the other students in your group. In Part 1 you also have regular reading sessions to help your language work along.

  • Murray Edwards College has a strong tradition in Classics and we aim to admit up to four classicists a year. The college library has excellent Classics holdings which include the collection bequeathed by Elizabeth Rawson, a former Fellow of the College and renowned historian of Roman culture and society. Dr Lyndsay Coo directs studies in Classics for Murray Edwards College, and has well-established teaching links with supervisors in other colleges.

Admissions

Applicants will be asked to send one or two pieces of written work in advance of interview, where possible.

Applicants for the three year course may be asked to prepare a passage of Latin or Greek for discussion during the interview. Applicants for the four year course may be asked to complete, as part of the admission process, some exercise involving the linguistic analysis of a passage of English.

Selected Internet Resources

Checked by ER, August 2011