DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS
UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES IN CLASSICS
The classics department is my home away from home. It opened up opportunities for learning and travel that I had never dreamed possible. {Sarah Beal, undergraduate student}
{Sarah Beal at an ancient tavern in Ostia, Rome, Italy}
{Baths of Diocletian, Rome, Italy. Greatest of public baths; dedicated in 306, AD}
Each year, we provide study-abroad scholarships for our qualified students. We make impossible dreams possible. We believe that study-abroad enhances learning and opens up the world in a way that no classroom discussion can.
STUDY CLASSICS AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WISDOM OF THE ANCIENT WORLD Founded in 1871, the Department of Classics is one of the top in the country. You will learn from some of the field’s top experts. They will guide you through the study of the languages, literature, and cultures of Greece and Rome—from the Bronze Age to Modern Greece—foundational to understanding today’s world. You will discover that the origins of Western and much Near Eastern literature, philosophy, art, religion and social customs were formed in the ancient world, and remain a vital contributor to ongoing conversations about who we are. You will see that Ancient Greece and Rome live in our language—philosophy, theology, arena, horoscope, orbit, astronomy, archaeology; in our democratic system of government; in art, literature, philosophy, science and mathematics.
CLASSICAL STUDIES TAKE YOU EVERYWHERE A major in classics arms you to meet the demands of the modern world. Beyond teaching high school students or doing graduate work, a classics major fosters the kind of discipline and broad creativity that expand your horizons and open all sorts of doors: Law school or medical school—the skill set built by a classical education is perfect training Publishing—as an editor and fact-checker Political and governmental offices—writing speeches and policy The entertainment industry—writing, producing and directing iconic, modern classics, such as Star Trek.
BE PREPARED TO TAKE ON TODAY’S CHALLENGES A growing body of evidence suggests that children who study Latin out-perform their peers when it comes to reading, reading comprehension and vocabulary, as well as higher-order thinking such as computation, concepts and problem solving. And, according to the Princeton Review, classics majors consistently have some of the highest scores on GREs of all undergraduates. go.osu.edu/princetonreview
A good teacher inspires students toward enthusiasm for the subject, to the point of seeing why one might dedicate an entire career to its inquiry. {J. Albert Harrill, classics professor}
{Aphaia Aeginal, temple on the Aegina island, Saronic, Greece}
MORE INFORMATION For more information about the department, the faculty and courses, visit:
classics.osu.edu
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES We spend a lot of time among the ancients—studying the languages, literature and cultures of Greece and Rome. We focus on antiquity, but do not neglect periods from the Bronze Age to Modern Greece. The saying, “The past is prologue,” could very well be the motto of the Department of Classics. For us, the past is not dead, but alive and well. We see it all around us: in our language, in the origins of western and Near Eastern literature, philosophy, art, religion and social customs. Greece and Rome are vital contributors to ongoing discussions of who we are today and help us understand our own very different world of rapid social and technological change. In both teaching and in research, the department is fundamentally interdisciplinary and embraces courses and expertise from other fields, including philosophy, history, art history and linguistics.
Department of Classics 414 University Hall 230 North Oval Mall Columbus, Ohio 43210 phone: (614) 292-2744 email: classics@osu.edu
classics.osu.edu