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About
Us: A Brief History of the Department of Classical
Studies
Classics
> About
Us
> Department History
Tradition
 In
1841, when the Ann Arbor campus opened its doors,
its faculty included only two professors, one in
Mathematics and one in Greek and Latin Languages.
This disposition reflected then-prevailing views
about the nature of higher education. The earliest
freshman curriculum, for instance, included courses
in Greek and Latin literature, Greek and Roman
antiquities, rhetoric, and grammar. By 1852, the
study of Greek and Latin culture had grown
sufficiently to permit their separation into two
departments. This separation persisted until Greek
and Latin were once more merged after the Second
World War.
During
the last decades of the nineteenth century, as
Michigan developed into a national research
university, the two departments continued to
exercise heavy influence on undergraduate
education. Two of the Latin Department's faculty
members (Erastus Haven and Henry Simmons Frieze)
served as Presidents of Michigan, while another
(Charles Kendall Adams) went on to become President
of Cornell and then of Wisconsin.
Of
far more lasting impact on our Department, however,
was Francis Kelsey, who served as Professor of
Latin for nearly four decades from 1889 until his
death in 1927. Kelsey's tireless acquisition of
antiquities provided the core of the University's
extraordinary papyrological and archaeological
holdings. But Kelsey also built a faculty around
his wide-ranging interests, and that faculty
successfully replicated itself in succeeding
generations. The Departments of Greek and Latin
thus became established and renowned as research
centers particularly in so-called "ancillary"
disciplines (such as papyrology, numismatics, Roman
law, and archaeology) as well as in more
traditional areas of classical literature and
philology.
Long
before the merger, therefore, Michigan was already
distinctive for its commitment to Classical Studies
understood as an entirety, rather than to, for
instance, Classical languages and Culture. The
Department took all of Greco-Roman antiquity as its
proper subject matter. Only ancient history was
established outside the Department, with the
appointment of Arthur Boak in History (1914);
still, many of our faculty members continued to
pursue historical subjects.
But
storm clouds were already gathering. During the
first half of the twentieth century the College
gradually reduced, and finally abolished, its
entrance and degree requirements in classical
languages. The crisis that resulted would
eventually lead to the emergence of the Department
in its modern form.
In
the College Catalogue for 1852-1853, there appears
a remarkable statement about the mission of the
Department of Latin:
"The primary object of this department is to give
the student a critical knowledge of the structure
of the ancient languages themselves, of the
principles of interpretation, and of those
rhetorical principles which will enable a person to
express himself in idiomatic and perspicuous
English. In the department, therefore, nearly as
much attention is paid to the study of English as
to the study of Greek and Latin. But another and
not less important object which is aimed at,
especially in the later studies in this course, is
the full comprehension of all that relates to the
author read. It is not merely the words and the
outward expression of thought to which attention is
directed, but the thought itself; and in connection
with this analysis of the subject matter of each
author, the age and other circumstances in which he
wrote are carefully considered. This leads to a
general study of antiquity, the laws, government,
social relations, religion, philosophy, arts,
manufactures, commerce, education: in short,
everything which belonged to Grecian and Roman
life."
In
general, this statement of policy has remained
valid until the present day.
Recent
History
The modern history of the Department begins in
1957, when Gerald Else was recruited (from Iowa) to
serve as its Chair. Else faced the difficult task
of modernizing the Department. Under his
leadership, the Department reconstituted its
graduate offerings in a more up-to-date and
appealing form, and it also took the first steps
toward creating, with History of Art, the
Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art and
Archaeology (IPCAA). Else was likewise a vigorous
spokesman for newer interdisciplinary approaches to
classical literature.
By
the early 1970s, however, the Department faced a
far larger crisis: the impending retirement, within
the space of about five years, of many its most
renowned scholars, who together comprised half the
Department. The faculty thus confronted the
possibility, or even the prospect, of a drastic
reduction in its size unless it could successfully
remake itself by generating new sources of
students. The Department took this threat very
seriously. Especially under the leadership of John
H. D'Arms (who became Chair in 1972), it undertook
a series of initiatives that substantially
transformed it; and successive Chairs (including
Ludwig Koenen and Sharon Herbert) have sustained
and extended these initiatives. In effect, the
teaching mission of the Department now began to
assume its present form.
The
key element of this change was the creation of a
battery of courses in translation, and the
appointment of new faculty qualified and eager to
teach such courses in addition to their more
traditional scholarly duties. The new courses were
in two areas. First, the Department considerably
expanded its offering in Classical Archaeology,
especially its introductory and advanced courses
for undergraduates. Classical Archaeology now
accounts for over twenty percent of the
Department's enrollments.
Second, the Department established an array of new
undergraduate translation courses in Classical
Civilization. Most faculty members in literature
were expected to mount at least one such course
each year, so that the effort would be spread as
broadly as possible. Introductory courses,
organized initially by Don Cameron, anchored the
new curriculum and soon proved immensely popular
with freshmen; and other faculty subsequently
developed large upper-level courses in such areas
as mythology and daily life, as well as smaller and
more esoteric offerings in subjects like Roman law,
film, and witchcraft. Classical civilization now
furnishes about half of the Department's
enrollments.
To
the extent possible, we tried to prevent these new
courses from doing harm to our more traditional
curriculum in Greek and Latin. Elementary Latin, in
particular, has continued as the mainstay of our
language base, especially for students seeking to
meet the College's language requirement. Our
enrollments in intermediate and advanced Latin, and
in Greek at all levels, have continued strong.
Since the Department regards undergraduate language
instruction as crucial to its educational goals, we
have struggled to maintain as much as possible of
these programs, and even to improve them through
the creation of special courses for concentrators
(of whom we know have about 100).
In recent years the Department has also realized
two long-time goals. First, we have opened a new
language front: Modern Greek courses, still
confined to elementary teaching but with robust
numbers. Second, we have joined with the Department
of History in creating a new program in Greek and
Roman History.
On the graduate level, our initiatives have had
more limited effect on the basic curriculum, since
we continue to cherish rigorous principles of
graduate education. The original "Else curriculum"
has been considerably modified over the years, but
its essential lines remain, particularly in our
"600-level" courses in ancillary disciplines such
as papyrology. Our insistence on this general
objective is perhaps most clearly shown through our
recruitment of top-notch younger scholars in
classical literature and in philosophy.
Nonetheless, our graduate students are now mainly
supported through teaching assistantships in
elementary Latin and in Classical Civilization,
since teaching in these areas is now all but
required for their future employment.
Our
initiatives since the early 1970s have succeeded in
preserving our Department's size and academic
strength throughout the financial turbulence of the
past three decades. We have entered the new
millennium with considerable optimism that
Classical Studies will not only survive at the
University of Michigan, but will remain central to
its goals of liberal education.
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