Classics

Return to: USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences  

The curriculum of the Classics Department is designed to transmit a knowledge and an appreciation of the civilizations of the Greeks and the Romans — their languages and literatures, myths, philosophies and political thought as well as to develop an understanding of the ways in which the classical heritage has manifested itself in later ages. Readings in approximately one half of the department’s classes are in English; these have to do with broad areas of civilization, including classical culture and literature. The remainder are courses in language and literature taught from the original Greek and Latin texts.

The undergraduate classics major gives the student an understanding of the cultures, languages and literatures of ancient Greece, Rome and the Mediterranean world. Students choose one of three tracks in the major: Classical Languages and Literatures, Classical Humanities and Ancient Civilizations.

Classics is a broadly interdisciplinary field. Most courses focus on ancient Greece and Rome, but students in the department also study the impact of classical cultures on later societies and the interactions among various ancient cultures. USC is a member of the the American Academy in Rome, Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies, the College Year in Athens program and the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. Classics majors are encouraged to spend a semester in Rome or Athens. The classics major is also encouraged to explore courses in allied fields such as ancient philosophy, history, comparative literature, art history and archaeology.

Taper Hall of Humanities 256
(213) 740-3676
FAX: (213) 740-7360
Email: classics@dornsife.usc.edu
dornsife.usc.edu/clas
 

Chair: William G. Thalmann, PhD

Faculty

Professors: Anthony J. Boyle, MA; Vincent Farenga*, PhD; Thomas N. Habinek*, PhD; Susan Lape, PhD; William G. Thalmann*, PhD

Associate Professors: Christelle Fischer-Bovet, PhD; Daniel Richter, PhD; Ann Marie Yasin, PhD

Assistant Professors: Frederic Clark, PhD; Anna Dolganov, PhD; Stefano Rebaggiani, PhD; Alexandre Roberts, PhD

Assistant Professor (Teaching): Lucas Herchenroeder, PhD

Associate Professor Emerita: Jane Cody, PhD

*Recipient of university-wide or college teaching award.

Undergraduate Degrees Honors Program

Candidates for honors must maintain a 3.5 GPA in major courses, including a grade of A or A minus in the capstone course. In addition, candidates for honors in the Classical Languages and Literatures track must pass a sight translation exam in either Greek or Latin; candidates in the Classical Humanities and Ancient Civilizations track must pass a comprehensive exam set by the department.

Students Anticipating Graduate Study in Classics

Students interested in attending graduate school in classics are advised to take as many courses in Greek and/or Latin as possible.

Graduate Degrees

The graduate program in classics at USC aims to train students to become scholars, teachers and interpreters of ancient Mediterranean civilizations, of the Greek and Latin languages and literatures, and of the traditions that have developed from them. In order to prepare students to work in a variety of intellectual contexts, the department seeks to provide both a traditional substantive training in classical philology and the intellectual flexibility that will enable them to make the accomplishments of the past available to audiences of the present.

The department offers the PhD in Classics (Greek and Latin) and the MA in Greek, Latin and Classics. Collateral offerings are available in related departments, such as comparative literature, history, philosophy, art history, English and anthropology.

The graduate program offers mastery of traditional philological and linguistic skills as a basis for the study of ancient cultures, with emphasis on literature, other discursive practices and material culture. Students are encouraged to explore interdisciplinary approaches to classical studies and the relations between classics and other fields. Courses in related departments are recommended and degree requirements permit students to develop individual interests.

Admission Requirements

An applicant for admission will normally have an undergraduate major in classics, but programs may be arranged for promising students who do not. The student should have an undergraduate record satisfactory to the department. At least three letters of recommendation from the student’s undergraduate teachers are required. All applicants are required to take the verbal and quantitative general tests of the Graduate Record Examinations. See the department Website for detailed application instructions.

Degree Requirements

These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to the Requirements for Graduation  section and The Graduate School  section of this catalogue for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.

Interdisciplinary Program

Minor in Critical Approaches to Leadership

See the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies  for course requirements.

Programs

Bachelor’s Degree

• •  Classics (BA)

Minor

• •  Classical Greek Minor
• •  Classical Perspectives Minor
• •  Classics Minor
• •  Latin Minor

Master’s Degree

• •  Classics (MA)

Doctoral Degree

• •  Classics (PhD)

Courses

Classics

• •  CLAS 101g The Ancient World
• •  CLAS 150g The Greeks and their Legacies
• •  CLAS 151gp The Legacy of Rome
• •  CLAS 160gp Ancient Lives
• •  CLAS 170gp Classics of Music and Literature: from Ancient Greece Through Contemporary LA
• •  CLAS 202 Archaeology: Our Human Past
• •  CLAS 212 Archaeology: Interpreting the Past
• •  CLAS 280gp Classical Mythology in Art and Literature
• •  CLAS 300 Women in Antiquity
• •  CLAS 301a Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 301b Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 301c Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 301d Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 303 Exploring Ancient Ways of Living: Experimental Archaeology
• •  CLAS 305 Roman Law
• •  CLAS 307 Law and Society in Classical Greece
• •  CLAS 310 Pagans and Christians
• •  CLAS 315 Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World
• •  CLAS 320gmp Diversity and the Classical Western Tradition
• •  CLAS 321 Greek Art and Archaeology
• •  CLAS 322 Roman Art and Archaeology
• •  CLAS 323 Aegean Archaeology
• •  CLAS 324 Late Antique Art and Archaeology
• •  CLAS 325 Ancient Epic
• •  CLAS 328 Archaeology of Religion in the Greco- Roman World
• •  CLAS 330 Ancients VS. Moderns
• •  CLAS 333 Cult and City in Ancient Greece
• •  CLAS 336 Rome and its Discontents: Literature and Social Change
• •  CLAS 337gp Ancient Drama
• •  CLAS 338 Warfare, State, and Society in the Ancient World
• •  CLAS 339 Ancient Science
• •  CLAS 340 Ethics and Politics in Ancient Rome
• •  CLAS 348g Athens in the Age of Democracy and Empire
• •  CLAS 349gp Ancient Empires
• •  CLAS 370 Leaders and Communities: Classical Models
• •  CLAS 371 From Alexander to Cleopatra: The Mediterranean in an Age of Expansion
• •  CLAS 375 Alexander the Great
• •  CLAS 378 Ptolemaic Egypt
• •  CLAS 380 Approaches to Myth
• •  CLAS 390 Special Problems
• •  CLAS 401a Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 401b Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 401c Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 401d Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 410a Research in Classical Studies
• •  CLAS 410b Research in Classical Studies
• •  CLAS 415 Object-Worlds: Histories and Theories of Things
• •  CLAS 420 Science and Empire from Baghdad to Byzantium
• •  CLAS 425 Interdisciplinary Studies in Classical Art and Archaeology: Research and Methodology
• •  CLAS 461 Topics in Ancient Iranian Languages and Cultures
• •  CLAS 465 Archaeology and Society
• •  CLAS 470 Democracies Ancient and Modern
• •  CLAS 485 Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin
• •  CLAS 490x Directed Research
• •  CLAS 495x Honors Research
• •  CLAS 499 Special Topics
• •  CLAS 500 Proseminar
• •  CLAS 501a Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 501b Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 501c Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 501d Cross Registration with UCLA
• •  CLAS 510 Seminar in Classical Philology
• •  CLAS 511 Sanskrit I
• •  CLAS 512 Sanskrit II
• •  CLAS 515 Topics in Classical Scholarship
• •  CLAS 520 Approaches to Antiquity
• •  CLAS 525 Studies in Ancient and Pre- Modern Cultures
• •  CLAS 540 Seminar in Early Greek Literature
• •  CLAS 545 Seminar in Theoretical Approaches to Greek Culture and Literature
• •  CLAS 550 Seminar in Classical and Hellenistic Literature
• •  CLAS 555 Seminar in Greek History, Culture, and Society
• •  CLAS 560 Seminar in Republican Latin Literature
• •  CLAS 565 Seminar in Theoretical Approaches to Roman Culture and Literature
• •  CLAS 570 Seminar in Imperial Latin Literature
• •  CLAS 575 Seminar in Roman History, Culture, and Society
• •  CLAS 590 Directed Research
• •  CLAS 593x Practicum in Teaching Liberal Arts: Classics
• •  CLAS 594a Master’s Thesis
• •  CLAS 594b Master’s Thesis
• •  CLAS 594z Master’s Thesis
• •  CLAS 599 Special Topics
• •  CLAS 790 Research
• •  CLAS 794a Doctoral Dissertation
• •  CLAS 794b Doctoral Dissertation
• •  CLAS 794c Doctoral Dissertation
• •  CLAS 794d Doctoral Dissertation
• •  CLAS 794z Doctoral Dissertation

Greek

• •  GR 120 Greek I
• •  GR 150 Greek II
• •  GR 220 Greek III
• •  GR 345 Greek Tragic Poets
• •  GR 353 Plato
• •  GR 354 Greek Historians
• •  GR 355 Aristophanes
• •  GR 362 Homer and the Greek Epic
• •  GR 365 Greek Lyric Poetry
• •  GR 375 Plutarch
• •  GR 390 Special Problems
• •  GR 450 Readings in Greek Literature
• •  GR 490x Directed Research