B.A. in Ancient Studies

Understand contemporary events and phenomena

Are you fascinated by antiquity and the cultural history of the Mediterranean region? Keen to go on a study trip and stand face to face with the ancient world?

However much our world now revolves around smartphones, apps and likes, the influence of the ancient world endures to this day. As a student of Ancient Studies, you use historical knowledge to understand contemporary events and phenomena. You explore the visual arts, literature, architecture, for example the pyramids, the Parthenon, the epics of Gilgamesh, Homer and Virgil, and much more. You learn about different cultures and the surprisingly close ties between them. You approach these topics from different disciplinary perspectives, from archaeology and history to language and literature studies.

You can tailor your degree to your own interests by choosing one of five specialisations: Archaeology, Ancient History, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Ancient Greek or Latin. The programme has a small-scale setup and you enjoy close personal contact with your lecturers. You follow a number of courses together with students from the other ACASA programmes. You will also go on an excursion with them, for example to Sicily.

The Ancient Studies programme is offered in collaboration between the two Amsterdam universities, VU Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam (UvA). These institutions have clustered their knowledge and expertise in the Amsterdam Centre for Ancient Studies and Archaeology (ACASA). All lectures are delivered on the UvA campus in the city centre, next to the Allard Pierson Museum. This combination makes for an inspiring and stimulating environment.

The start date of this programme is September 1st.

In the first year, you acquire a solid grounding in the cultural history of antiquity, including those elements of ancient cultures that survived into later periods. You examine the material and textual sources for our knowledge of antiquity. You follow courses such as What is Classic? about the canon, as well as courses on ancient philosophy and on cultural contacts between the Middle East and the Mediterranean region. You can also take elective courses to figure out which specialisation you would like to follow later.

• A Cultural History of the Ancient World 1: The Near East and the Greek World
• English Language Test
• The Classical Canon 1: The Heritage of Antiquity
• A Cultural History of the Ancient World 2: The Hellenistic World, Italy and Rome
• Cultural Contact: East and West
• Dealing with Sources and Resources for the Past
• Ancient Philosophy
• In period 4 and 5 there is an orientation space consisting of some elective courses

In the second and third years, you move on to interdisciplinary modules such as The Mediterranean Region in Europe (on contacts between the inhabitants of the Mediterranean lands and Europe), Religion, and Lieux de Mémoire (on how people give meaning to places by associating them with stories). You also dive into your chosen specialisation of Archaeology.

In the third year, you choose a minor and write a Bachelor’s thesis in which you demonstrate your ability to address a topic from an interdisciplinary perspective.