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Department of
Classical and Mediterranean Studies

Major and Minor

Discover A New World. We are your academic home for reading Greek tragedy or Latin love poetry, for digging ancient temples or surveying medieval harbors, for studying Christian saints and for investigating the complex histories and identities of the Mediterranean region. A major or minor in Classical and Mediterranean Studies can launch you on many career paths that call for an inclusive worldview, comparative research, critical evaluation, and skillful expression.

Major | Minor | Major/Minor Declaration

Classical and Mediterranean Studies Major

Majors in classical and Mediterranean studies pursue courses in the language, art and archaeology, history, religion, philosophy, society and culture of the Greek and Roman world and its broader Mediterranean context. Offerings for the major include a variety of lectures and seminars, as well as practical or research-based classes, opportunities for immersive learning, and summer trips for on-site study and field research in Greece, Israel, and Italy.

Majors choose their curriculum in one of three tracks which share content but offer unique viewpoints and training. These tracks offer different combinations of approved courses, listed below.

Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

This major track investigates one or more ancient to medieval cultural tradition(s) in the Greco-Roman and Near Eastern spheres by studying original texts and their historical setting. Students in this major track enroll in 30-34 total credit hours.

Course Requirements:

  • One foundation course: CLAS 1010 (3 credit hours);
  • Language/Literature: Five courses from Approved Course List A shown below (15 credit hours, or 19 credit hours if including ARA 1101-1102); and
  • Culture: Four courses from Approved Course Lists B, C, and/or D numbered 2060 or above, shown below (12 credit hours).

Latin courses at the 1000-level do not count toward this major track. Students who fulfill their language/literature requirement by completing courses in one language must, in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies, earn credit for at least one course in a different cultural tradition (e.g., Greek, Roman, Jewish, Christian, Islamic) or period (e.g., ancient, medieval).

Mediterranean Archaeology

This major track explores human diversity and experience from prehistory and classical antiquity to the Middle Ages through the study of material, visual culture, natural landscapes, and manmade environments. Students in this major track enroll in 30-34 total credit hours.

Course Requirements:

  • Two foundation courses: CLAS 1010 and 1020 (6 credit hours);
  • Language/Literature: Two courses from Approved Course List A shown below (6 credit hours, or 10 if including ARA 1101-1102);
  • Method and Theory: One course from Approved Course List E shown below (3 credit hours);
  • Three courses in the history and in the art, architecture, and archaeology of the ancient to medieval Mediterranean world, including one from Approved Course List B, one from Approved Course List C, and one from Approved Course List B or C, shown below (9 credit hours); and
  • Electives: Two courses from Approved Course Lists A, B, C, D, or E (shown below) or from the following (6 credit hours): ANTH 1101, Introduction to Anthropology; 1201, Introduction to Archaeology; 1301, Introduction to Biological Anthropology; 1601, Introduction to Language and Culture; 2211, Archaeology; 2220, Human Landscapes; 2227, Food in the Ancient World; 2370, Death and the Body; 3160, Anthropologies and Archaeologies of Community; 3161, Colonial Encounter in the Americas; 3200, Ancient Cities; 3202, The Collapse of Civilizations.

With the permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, students may fulfill the method and theory requirement by completing a program of practical archaeology (e.g., CLAS 3710, 3720, ANTH 3866, participation in an excavation or field survey, or an internship in conservation or curation).

No more than 15 credit hours of courses numbered below 2050 may count toward this major track.

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Mediterranean Studies

This is the most flexible major track for a broad range of interests; it allows engagement with a variety of ancient, medieval, or modern topics through focused or comparative study. Students in this major track enroll in 30 total credit hours.

Course Requirements:

  • One foundation course: CLAS 1010 (3 credit hours);
  • Historical basis: Four courses from Approved Course Lists A, B, C, and/or D shown below (12 credit hours); and
  • Comparative perspectives: Five courses from Approved Course Lists A, B, C, D, E, and/or F shown below (15 credit hours).

Students may apply up to three semesters of one Mediterranean language toward the historical basis requirement, including either an Ancient to Medieval language in Course List A or Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish. French, Italian, Latin, and Spanish courses at the 1000-level do not count toward the major.

No more than 12 credit hours of courses numbered below 2050 may count toward this major track.

Approved Course List

  • GREEK: 1101, Beginning Greek I; 1102, Beginning Greek II; 2201, Intermediate Greek I: Classical and Koiné Greek; 2202, Intermediate Greek II: Homer’s Iliad; 3010, The Greek Orators; 3020, The Greek Historians; 3040, Readings in Plato and Aristotle; 3100, The Greek Tragedians; 3110, Greek Lyric Poetry; 3200, Early Christian Writers; 3850, Independent Study; 3890, Special Topics in Greek Literature
  • LATIN: 1101, Beginning Latin I; 1102, Beginning Latin II; 1103, Intensive Elementary Latin; 2201, Intermediate Latin I; 2202, Intermediate Latin II; 3010, The Writings of Caesar; 3020, Cicero and the Humanistic Tradition; 3030, Latin Letters; 3040, The Roman Historians; 3050, Suetonius; 3060, Tacitus; 3100, Roman Comedy; 3110, Catullus; 3120, Lucretius: De Rerum Natura; 3130, Vergil: The Aeneid; 3140, The Lyric Poetry of Horace; 3150, Latin Elegy; 3160, Ovid; 3170, Roman Satire; 3180, Neronian Writers; 3200, Early Christian Writers; 3850, Independent Study; 3890, Special Topics in Latin Literature
  • CLASSICAL HEBREW: 1101, Beginning Classical Hebrew I; 1102, Beginning Classical Hebrew II; 2200, Intermediate Classical Hebrew; 3010, Historical Hebrew Grammar; 3020, Classical Hebrew Poetry; 3030, West Semitic Inscriptions
  • ARABIC: ARA 1101, Elementary Arabic I; 1102, Elementary Arabic II; 2201, Intermediate Arabic I; 3301, Arabic of the Qur’an and Other Classical Texts; RLST 4593, Advanced Readings in Islamic Tradition
  • UGARITIC: CHEB 2300, Ugaritic
  • ARAMAIC AND CLASSICAL SYRIAC: ARAM 2400, Introduction to Classical Syriac; 2500, Egyptian Aramaic; CHEB 3030, West Semitic Inscriptions.
  • AKKADIAN: CLAS 3300, Elementary Akkadian I; 3301, Elementary Akkadian II
  • OLD FRENCH: FREN 3224, Medieval French Literature
  • MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ITALIAN: ITAL 3100, Literature from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance; 3240, Dante’s Divine Comedy; 3242, Dante in Historical Context; 3340, Famous Women by Boccaccio
  • OLD SPANISH: SPAN 4400, Origins of Spanish Literature
  • CLASSICAL AND MEDITERRANEAN STUDIES: 2100, History of the Ancient Near East; 2110, History of Greece to Alexander the Great; 2120, Greece and the Near East from Alexander to Constantine; 2150, History of the Roman Republic; 2160, History of the Roman Empire; 2180, The Mediterranean World from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages
  • HISTORY: 1190, A History of Islam; 1350, Western Civilization to 1700; 1600, European Economic History 1000–1700; 2220, Medieval and Renaissance Italy, 1000–1700; 2230, Medieval Europe, 1000–1350
  • CLASSICAL AND MEDITERRANEAN STUDIES: 1020, Introduction to Mediterranean Archaeology; 2200, Archaic and Classical Greek Art and Architecture, 1000 to 400 B.C.E.; 2210, Late Classical Greek and Hellenistic Art and Architecture; 2250, Roman Art and Architecture; 3200, The Greek City; 3210, The Archaeology of Greek Sanctuaries; 3220, The Trojan War in History, Art, and Literature; 3230, Alexander the Great
  • HISTORY OF ART: 2180, Islamic Art and Architecture; 2210, Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt; 2220, Greek Art and Architecture; 2260, The Art of Pagans, Christians, and Jews; 2270, Early Christian and Byzantine Art; 2275, The Cross and the Crescent: Byzantine-Islamic Confluences in Art; 3224, Greek Sculpture; 3226, Greek Vases and Society; 3228W, Gender and Sexuality in Greek Art; 3240W, Ancient Landscapes; 3272, Portraits in Late Antiquity; 3274, Art and Empire from Constantine to Justinian
  • CLASSICAL AND MEDITERRANEAN STUDIES: 1111, First-Year Writing Seminar; 1120, Greek Civilization; 1130, The Greek Myths; 1150, Roman Civilization; 3000, Classical Tradition in America; 3030, Death, Disease, and Health in the Ancient World; 3100, Women, Sexuality, and Family in Ancient Greece and Rome; 3110, Warfare in the Ancient Mediterranean; 3120, Humor, Ancient to Modern; 3150, Roman Law; 3160, Roman Law and Society; 3190, Augustan Rome; 3250W Jews and Greeks; 3310, Culture of the Ancient Near East; 3333, Pandemics and Society in Historical Perspective; 3350, History of Ancient and Medieval Christianity; 3360, Early Christian Poetry; 3370, History of Syriac Christianity; 3380, Desert Spirituality in Early Christianity; 3600, Seminar in Digital Humanities; 3700, Maymester in Greece: Uncovering Greek Religion; 3710, Maymester in Greece; 3720, Maymester in Rome; 3730, Maymester in Israel
  • ENGLISH: 2318 or 2318W, World Literature, Classical
  • HISTORY: 2150, Muhammad and Early Islam; 2160, Medicine in Islam; 2170, Islam and the Crusades; 2180, Islamic Narratives, Narratives of Islam; 2190, The Last Empire of Islam; 2237, Democracy and Dictatorship: Ancient Politics; 2238, Crime and Criminal Law in Western Antiquity; 2240, Sex Law; 3210, Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain
  • HISTORY OF ART: 1100, History of Western Art I; 1101, History of Western Architecture I; 2285, Medieval Art; 2290, Gothic Paris; 2310, Italian Art to 1500; 2320, Italian Renaissance Workshop; 2325, Great Masters of the Italian Renaissance; 3252, Cities of the Roman East; 3320 or 3320W, Early Renaissance Florence; 3332, Raphael and the Renaissance; 3334 or 3334W, Michelangelo’s Life and Works.
  • ITALIAN: 3803, Maymester in Sicily
  • JEWISH STUDIES: 1200, Classical Judaism: Jews in Antiquity; 1220, Jews in the Medieval World; 2150, Issues in Rabbinic Literature; 2620, Jews in Egypt; 2640, Jews and Greeks; 3892, Topics in Ancient and Medieval Jewish History
  • PHILOSOPHY: 2100, Ancient Philosophy; 2101, Hellenistic and Late Ancient Philosophy; 2102, Medieval Philosophy; 3005, Jewish Philosophy; 3006, Islamic Philosophy
  • POLITICAL SCIENCE: 2202, Ancient Political Thought
  • RELIGIOUS STUDIES: 1500, Introduction to Islam; 3350, Christian-Jewish Relations in Medieval and Early Modern Europe; 4551, Mysticism in Islam
  • ANTHROPOLOGY: 2603, Comparative Writing Systems; 3261, Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing; 3260, Ceramic Analysis in Archaeology; 3262, Ethics in Anthropology, Archaeology, and Development; 3344, Genetic Anthropology Lab Techniques; 3372, Human Osteology; 3866, Archaeological Excavation; 3901, Problems in Anthropological Theory; 4345, Human Evolutionary Genetics
  • CLASSICAL AND MEDITERRANEAN STUDIES: 3600, Seminar in Digital Humanities
  • EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES: 1030, Oceanography; 1510, The Dynamic Earth: Introduction to Geological Sciences; 2510, Earth Systems through Time
  • HISTORY OF ART: 3810, Exhibiting Historical Art
  • HISTORY: 1200, The Arab Spring; 3190, Religion, Culture, and Commerce: The World Perspective
  • HISTORY OF ART: 2780, History of Western Urbanism; 2782, Storied Places: History of Landscape Design
  • JEWISH STUDIES: 2600, Muslims and Jews
  • RELIGIOUS STUDIES: 4552, Islam in the Modern World

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Classical and Mediterranean Studies Minor

Minors can choose from two curricular tracks offering the flexibility to pursue those fields in abbreviated versions of the associated major tracks.

Mediterranean Archaeology

Students in this minor track complete CLAS 1010, 1020, and 12 additional credit hours in courses that count toward the Mediterranean Archaeology major track, of which at least nine credit hours must be from courses numbered 2060 or above.

Mediterranean Studies

Students in this minor track complete CLAS 1010 and 15 additional credit hours in courses that count toward Mediterranean Studies major track, of which at least nine credit hours must be from courses numbered 2060 or above.

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To Declare a Major or Minor

  1. Download and fill out the Office of the Registrar’s Undergraduate Major/Minor Declaration/Change form.
  2. Email or deliver the completed form to the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dan Solomon. He will help connect you with an academic adviser.
  3. Have your adviser sign the form.
  4. Submit the form to the College of Arts and Science Office of Undergraduate Education via email or in person to 350 Buttrick Hall.
  5. Introduce yourself to other students and faculty in the department.

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