Classical Studies

Course detail Description

The Classical Studies Graduate Diploma is a highly flexible academic study pathway that offers you the opportunity to customise your module choices to reflect your academic interests. You can choose from a wide range of topics to study that typically include Greek & Roman Literature, Greek & Roman History, Classical Art & Archaeology and Late Antique & Byzantine Studies. Additionally, if you wish to study Greek or Latin language modules, they can be studied at a level to reflect your language abilities. You must take modules totalling 120 credits to complete the course.

If you are studying full-time, you will complete the course in nine months, from September to June. If you are studying part-time, your course will take 18 months to complete.

Libraries

As well as the extensive library resources at King's, you will have access to the world-leading Classics library at the Institute of Classical Studies, as well as other University of London libraries.

Research seminars
In the Department of Classics we run a research seminar series (which Graduate Diploma students are encouraged to attend), where you will learn about the current research of our academic staff and PhD students. There are also University of London research seminars organized through the Institute of Classical Studies, for example in Ancient History, Classical Archaeology and Art, Classical Literature, and Ancient Philosophy, where you will be able to listen to and meet leading scholars from around the world. There is also the Late Antique & Byzantine Studies seminar, which is organized by the Centre for Hellenic Studies.

Greek Play
Every year (since 1953), students in the Department of Classics have produced and performed a Greek play - the only production in the UK to be performed annually in the original Greek. Read more about the Greek Play (and its history) at King's:

Iris Project and the Inner London Latin Project
Over the past few years, students in the Department of Classics have been teaching in the capital's state primary schools, offering pupils in large, mixed-ability classes the opportunity to learn about Latin in fun, accessible and relevant ways. Read more about the Iris Project at King’s:

The Diploma is appropriate for you if you are a graduate in a subject not closely related to Ancient History or Classics; it provides a bridge to further study at MA level or beyond, or you can take it as a self-contained programme.

Teaching

We use lectures, seminars and group tutorials to deliver most of the modules on the course. You will also be expected to undertake a significant amount of independent study. You will be assigned a personal tutor who will provide support and guidance for your studies.

If you are a full-time student, we will provide you with six to eight hours of teaching through lectures and seminars across the year. We expect you to undertake around 35 hours of independent study per week.

If you are a part-time student, we will provide you with two to six hours of teaching through lectures and seminars in your first and in your second year. We will expect you to undertake eight to fourteen hours of independent study per week.

Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work. You may also choose to complete an optional dissertation with up to five hours’ supervision and approximately 500 hours of additional selfstudy.

Assessment

Assessment methods will depend on the modules you have selected to study. The primary methods of assessment for this course are coursework and examinations.

Read more

Structure

Year 1 Courses are divided into modules. You are required to take modules totalling 120 credits. Required Modules

There are no required modules for this course.

You are required to take 120 credits from a range of modules, which may typically include:

• Minoans & Mycenaeans (30 credits)
• The Classical Art of the Body: Greek Sculpture (30 credits)
• The Art of Making: Craft Production From Classical Antiquity to Today (30 credits)
• Augustus: Power & Propaganda (30 credits)
• The History & Theory of Ancient Slavery (30 credits)
• Greek Religion (30 credits)
• Pagans, Christians & Jews in the Roman Empire (30 credits)
• Streetwise: Narrating the City in Classical Literature (30 credits)
• Neronian Literature & Culture (30 credits)
• Plato’s Myths: the Soul, Desire & the Beyond (30 credits)
• Living Forever: Fame & Glory From Homeric Heroes to Roman Emperors (& Beyond) (30 credits)
• An Introduction to Classical Reception Studies in Sixteen Encounters (30 credits)
• Graduate Diploma in Classical Studies Dissertation (30 credits)
• Greek Language 1 for Graduate Diploma (30 credits)
• Greek Language 2 for Graduate Diploma (30 credits)
• Greek Language 3 for Graduate Diploma (30 credits)
• Latin Language 1 for Graduate Diploma (30 credits)
• Latin Language 2 for Graduate Diploma (30 credits)
• Latin Language 3 for Graduate Diploma (30 credits)
• Greek Texts IX (Prose): Various Texts (15 credits)
• Death in Greek Literature (15 credits)
• The Art of Acquisition: Conquest, Collection & the Rise of Rome (Hellenistic Art II) (15 credits)
• Building Greece (15 credits)
• Constantinople: Imperial Capital – Medieval Metropolis (15 credits)
• Introductory Greek Texts IV (Verse): Various Texts (15 credits)
• Wisdom & the Divine: Ancient Greek Philosophy & Religion (15 credits)
• Ancient Sexuality I (15 credits)
• Ancient Sexuality II (15 credits)
• Latin Lyric Poetry (15 credits)
• The Novels of Nikos Kazantzakis & the Ancient World (15 credits)
• Persian Kings & Their Territory in the Achaemenid Empire (15 credits)
• Latin Texts VIII (Prose): Various Texts (15 credits)
• Venice: History & Art (15 credits)
• Greek Texts VII (Poetry): Various Texts (15 credits)
• Latin Texts V (Poetry): Various Texts (15 credits)

You can also choose modules worth 30 credits from a range of Level 4 (undergraduate, Year 1) and Level 5 (undergraduate, Year 2) which may typically include:

• Art & Archaeology of Greece & Rome (30 credits)
• Introduction to Ancient History (c 1200 BC–AD 600) (30 credits)
• Greek & Latin Literature: An Introduction (30 credits)
• Introduction to Ancient Philosophy (30 credits)
• Working with Greek & Latin Literary Texts (An Introduction) (30 credits)
• Introduction to Byzantium & Modern Greece: The Greek-Speaking World From 330 AD to Today (15 credits)
• Receptions of the Past: The Hellenic World from Antiquity to Today (15 credits)
• Art & Power in the Age of Alexander (Hellenistic Art I) (15 credits)
• Art & Empire: The Legacy of Byzantium (15 credits)
• Introductory Greek Texts III (Prose): Various Texts (15 credits)
• From Sulla to Caesar: the Fall of the Roman Republic (15 credits)
• Early Greece from Troy to Marathon (15 credits)
• Pompeii: History & Society (15 credits)
• Introductory Latin Texts I (Prose): Various Texts (15 credits)
• Homer (15 credits)
• Virgil's Aeneid (15 credits)
• Myth & Literature: Ancient Stories, Modern Meanings (15 credits)

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest that you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.