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Classical
Studies: Program Descriptions
Classics
> Programs & Courses >
Graduate > Classical
Studies > Program Descriptions
Introduction
The
Department of Classical Studies offers four degree programs to
which students may apply:
- Ph.D.
in Classical Studies
- M.A.
in Latin with Teaching Certification
- M.A.
in Greek
- M.A.
in Latin
The
Ph.D. program is entirely separate from the M.A. programs, with
different admission requirements and different schedules of study.
All M.A. programs are self-contained and do not prepare students
for admission to the Ph.D. program. Students who enroll in an
M.A. program, and who later decide to pursue a Ph.D., must make
subsequent application to the Ph.D. program. (Although an M.A.
in Classical Studies is regularly awarded after one year of successful
study in the Ph.D. program, it does not represent a separate degree
program to which students can apply for admission).
The
M.A. program in Latin with teaching certification is intended
for the preparation of secondary school teachers. The Department
has long played a significant role in preparing teachers, and
its educational facilities are renowned throughout the nation
for their innovations in methodology. This M.A. program is designed
to strengthen the basic language abilities of future teachers
while simultaneously acquainting them with new techniques and
teaching materials. In addition this degree requires six professional
education courses plus directed teaching in a secondary school.
No separate application to the School of Education is necessary,
however. The M.A. programs in Greek and Latin are used primarily
as supplementary courses of study for students pursuing Ph.D.
degrees in related disciplines such as classical archaeology,
comparative literature and history.
The
Ph.D. in Classical Studies is a five to six year program designed
to prepare students for teaching and research in colleges and
universities. This program is particularly broad and challenging.
Its special feature is coordination of the requirements for the
degree with a carefully thought-out sequence of course and other
activities through which students prepare to meet the requirements.
It is designed to make it possible to gain a balanced knowledge
of the classical world and the ability and desire to teach the
classical languages and literatures at the college and university
level and to do professional work in a particular field of classical
scholarship.
Greek
and Latin language and literature are at the heart of the program,
but it also offers the student an introduction to one or more
other areas pertinent to classical studies (such as history, archaeology,
ancient philosophy, epigraphy, papyrology, linguistics, law, literary
theory, and Near Eastern studies), and an opportunity for some
specialization in one of these fields. In addition, the Department
participates in an Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art
and Archaeology (IPCAA). The University's collections of Greek
papyri, Greek and Latin inscriptions, Greek and Roman coins, and
other ancient artifacts, together with the special scholarly competence
of members of the teaching staff in each of these fields are Departmental
assets which are not easily duplicated in graduate programs elsewhere.
Students encounter genuine documents and ancient objects at first
hand; this lends a sense of immediacy and directness to the study
of antiquity.
The
Department believes it important that students develop into effective,
lively, and well-organized teachers, as well as scholars, and
works to achieve this objective in two principal ways. First,
the ability to express ideas clearly is stressed. Students are
expected to prepare frequent oral reports in graduate classes
and in seminars, and there are oral components to both preliminary
and dissertation examinations. Second and more important, students
are required to teach for a minimum of two terms, under staff
supervision, the the Elementary Latin or Classical Civilization
programs. Within the limitations of available funding, research
assistantships are also offered which provide an opportunity for
close collaboration in research with one of the Department faculty.
In certain cases the research assistantship can fulfill the teaching
requirement.
Facilities,
Programs, and Special Opportunities
The
University of Michigan Graduate Library contains a full collection
of classical books, monographs, serials, and periodicals, and
it houses the largest and most important papyrus
collection in North America. In addition, the Classical Studies
Library (near the main Departmental offices in Angell Hall) contains
a good working collection of texts, recent commentaries, and major
works of reference. The Tracy E. Caulfield Memorial Microfiche
Collection is also available, substantially enlarging the volume
of research literature accessible within the Library. The Departmental
library
catalogue has been computerized and is available for searches
via the World Wide Web for easy remote access. This library, mainly
reserved for the use of Classics faculty and students, contains
ample space for reading, writing, and temporary reserves of books
in use for current courses and seminars. In an adjoining room
are computers for graduate student use (see the next section for
a complete description of the Department's computer facilities).
The
Kelsey Museum of
Ancient and Medieval Archaeology is another important facility
available to classicists at Michigan. The Museum,
located near Angell Hall, contains Greek, Roman, and Egyptian
sculpture, many Latin and Greek inscriptions and ostraka, a large
number of Greek, Roman, and Parthian coins, collections of glass
and faience, textiles, brickstamps, and many other artifacts principally
derived from the Museum's excavations at Roman sites in Egypt
(notably Karanis) and at Seleucia on the Tigris in Iraq. A collection
of squeezes of inscriptions from Asia Minor is also available.
The
Thomas Spencer Jerome Lectures are delivered regularly at both
The University of Michigan and the American Academy in Rome. Among
the distinguished scholars delivering the lectures in recent years
are Mario Torelli, Paul Zanker, Claude Nicolet, Glenn Bowersock,
R.M. Harrison, David Ridgway, Fergus Millar, Jaroslav Pelikan,
Anthony Grafton, and Nicholas Purcell. Recent lecturers for the
Else Lecture have included Albrecht Dihle, Robert Connor, Martha
Nussbaum, R.J. Lane Fox, Edmund Keely, and Froma Zeitlin. In addition
the Department frequently brings in visiting scholars of national
or international reputation for a term or shorter visit.
Computer
Resources
The
Department recognizes the growing importance of computing in the
field of classical studies and has made a significant investment
of time and resources in this area. A computer lab with Macintosh
computers and laser printers is available for the use of all graduate
students. In addition to the usual selection of word processing,
spreadsheet, and graphics software, each machine can perform,
via the HyperCard application Pandora, searches on the Packard
Humanities Institute CD-ROM databases of classical literature,
papyri, and inscriptions. These databases are accessible on the
Department's file server which provides departmental and public
access to a variety of software resources including, in addition
to the PHI databases, Perseus, and the new CD release of L'Annee
Philologique.
In
addition to the computers available for general graduate student
use, the Department owns a Sun SPARCstation 10 that is used primarily
for spatial analysis of archaeological data but which is also
an Internet server. That server hosts a number of important resources
including the Classics
and Mediterranean Archaeology World Wide Web pages, used internationally
as a starting-point and reference source for access to the latest
Internet resources for study of the classical and Mediterranean
world; the International
Directory of Aegean Prehistorians; and the ROMARCH,
GREEKARCH, and American
Classical League e-mail lists.
The
Department has also integrated computing into the teaching of
several classes. Perseus has been in use for several years in
the teaching of Classical Archaeology courses, and now Sibyl,
courseware developed within the Department, is being used in the
teaching of two courses with plans for its expansion into more.
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