Classics (Greek & Latin)

Course detail Description

The Classics (Greek & Latin) BA is an interdisciplinary course that will allow you to explore aspects of the classical world through the development of your understanding of Ancient Greek and Latin, and by reading ancient texts in their original form.

You will also be encouraged to research the many intellectual and political ways in which the Classical world connects to the modern world in which we live.

The diverse range of study module options will offer enormous flexibility to your study pathway. You will learn to think critically and independently about the subjects you encounter in your studies and acquire a range of skills that will support your intellectual, vocational and personal development.

The course is comprised of 360 credits in total and is studied over three years. Each year, you will study a set number of modules directly related to Greek and Latin, and then choose from a wide selection of optional interdepartmental modules allowing you to widely explore all aspects of the cultures of Greece and Rome.

Teaching

We use lectures, workshops and group tutorials to deliver most of the modules on the programme. 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.

In our undergraduate teaching, we aim to combine a wide range of study options with direct staff to student contact. Our emphasis on small group teaching in tutorials and seminars makes King's an excellent place to express your ideas both in writing and in philosophical discussion with your fellow students and instructors.

Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work.

Assessment

Assessment methods will depend on the modules you have selected to study. Your performance will be assessed through a combination of coursework and written/practical examinations. Forms of assessment may typically include coursework essays, written examinations, and individual or group presentations.

Location

The majority of learning for this degree takes place at the King’s College London Strand Campus. Please note that locations are determined by where each module is taught and may vary depending on the optional modules you select.

Special notes

Greek Play

The King’s Greek Play has been an annual tradition since 1953 and it is the only production in the country to be performed every year in the original Greek. Students (with all levels of Greek) participate in the direction, production and performance of the play, bringing to the stage playwrights from Aeschylus to Aristophanes.

Rumble Fund

In 2013 the Department of Classics created the Rumble Fund following a generous donation by a former student. This fund is used each year to pay for a group of students to visit classical lands as part of their degree programme.

Classics Society

Students run the Classics Society, which publishes the Satyrica newsletter and organises regular lectures, theatre outings, themed parties, private tours around museums, nights out and trips abroad – in recent years, group expeditions have been made to Italy and Turkey.

Iris Project

The department also promotes teaching Latin in disadvantaged primary schools through the Iris Project; this offers students a highly unusual experience that is both enriching and will impress future employers.

Study abroad

It is easier now than ever before to spend part of your time as a King's student studying abroad. Second year students have the opportunity to study abroad in the second semester of their second year or for the whole of their second year. Partner universities currently include:

• University of Auckland
• University of Melbourne
• University of Toronto (Full year only)
• University of California
• University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (Up to five places exclusively available for Classics students)
• University of Sydney

Find out more about studying abroad

Our students also have opportunities to attend the annual summer schools at the British Schools in Athens and Rome, and participate in archaeological excavations in Greece and Italy, as well as further afield.

Read more

Structure

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3

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

You are required to take the following modules in Year 1:

• Greek & Latin Literary Texts: An Introduction (30 credits)
• Greek Language 1, 2 or 3, depending on language experience (30 credits)
• Latin Language 1, 2 or 3, depending on language experience (30 credits)

Optional Modules

Additionally, you will take 30 credits from a range of optional modules (each worth 30 or 15 credits), which may typically include:

• Art & Archaeology of Greece & Rome (30 credits)
• Introduction to Ancient History (c 1200 BC–AD 600) (30 credits)
• Introduction to Ancient Philosophy (30 credits)

You may study modules from another department in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities with the approval of the programme convenor.

Year 2 Required Modules

There are no required modules in Year 2.

Optional Modules

You are required to select modules totalling at least 60 credits from a range of options in Latin and Greek languages (each module is worth 30 or 15 credits), that may typically include:

• Greek Language 3A (30 credits)
• Latin Language 3A (30 credits)
• Introductory Greek Texts: Prose (15 credits)
• Introductory Greek Texts: Verse (15 credits)
• Introductory Latin Texts: Prose (15 credits)
• Introductory Latin Texts: Verse (15 credits)
• Greek Texts: Prose (15 credits)
• Greek Texts: Drama (15 credits)
• Greek Texts: Poetry (15 credits)
• Latin Texts: Prose (15 credits)
• Latin Texts: Drama (15 credits)
• Latin Texts: Verse (15 credits)

Second year students are also required to take 60 credits from a wide range of optional modules, each worth 30 or 15 credits, which may typically include:

• Homer (15 credits)
• Virgil’s Aeneid (15 credits)
• Pompeii: History & Society (15 credits)
• Who Needs Myth? (15 credits)
• Art & Empire: the Legacy of Byzantium (15 credits)
• Roman Britain (30 credits)

You also have the opportunity to study abroad for either the second semester of the second year or for the whole of the second year. Partner institutions currently include:

• University of Auckland
• University of Melbourne
• University of Toronto (Full year only)
• University of California
• University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (Up to five places exclusively available for Classics students)
• University of Sydney

Year 3 Required Modules

There are no required modules in Year 3.

Optional Modules

You are required to take at least 60 credits from modules in Latin and Greek language from a range of optional modules that may typically include:

• Introductory Greek Texts: Prose (15 credits)
• Introductory Greek Texts: Verse (15 credits)
• Introductory Latin Texts: Prose (15 credits)
• Introductory Latin Texts: Verse (15 credits)
• Greek Texts: Prose (15 credits)
• Greek Texts: Drama (15 credits)
• Greek Texts: Poetry (15 credits)
• Latin Texts: Prose (15 credits)
• Latin Texts: Verse (15 credits)
• In addition, you are required to take 60 credits from a range of optional modules which may typically include:
• Minoans & Mycenaeans (30 credits)
• The Art of Making: Craft Production from Classical Antiquity to Today (30 credits)
• Pagans, Christians & Jews in the Roman Empire (30 credits)
• Dissertation (30 credits)
• Augustus: Power & Propaganda (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)
• Romanticism & Revolution: Byron, the Shelleys & Greece (15 credits)
• Descent to the Underworld: Transformations of a Myth (15 credits)
• Hollywood Stardom Ancient Style: Actors, Musicians & Dancers in the Greek & Roman world (15 credits)

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis in order to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. The optional modules offered may therefore change.