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Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics (Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Latin, ancient Greek and philosophy) at the University of Oxford and some other universities.
The Latin name means literally "more humane literature", and was in contrast to the other main field of study when the university began, i.e. res divinae, aka theology. Lit. Hum. is concerned with human learning, and Lit. Div. with learning that came from God. In its early days, it encompassed mathematics and natural sciences as well. It is now an archetypal Humanities course and is colloquially called Greats.
Lit. Hum. at Oxford
The University of Oxford's classics course, also known as "Greats", is divided into two parts, lasting five terms and seven terms respectively, the whole lasting four years in total, which is one year more than most arts degrees at Oxford and other English universities.
The course of studies leads to a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree. Throughout, there is a strong emphasis on first hand study of primary sources in the original Greek or Latin.
In the first part (Honour Moderations or Mods) students concentrate on Latin and/or Greek language; in the second part students choose eight papers from the disciplines of Classical Literature, Greek, and Roman history, Philosophy, Archaeology, and Linguistics. The teaching style is very traditional and consists of weekly tutorials in each of the two main subjects chosen, supplemented by a wide variety of lectures. The main teaching mechanism remains the weekly essay, one on each of the two main chosen subjects, typically written to be read out at a one-to-one tutorial; this affords all students plenty of practice at writing short, clear, and well-researched papers.
Changed in the late 20th century, a strong emphasis remains on study of original texts in Latin and Greek, assessed by prepared translation and by gobbet. In a typical "text" paper candidates will be expected first to translate into English three or four long passages selected by the examiners from the set books; and secondly to comment on each of an extended set of short paragraphs or sentences from the same set texts; marks are awarded for recognising the context and the significance of each excerpt.
The Mods course runs for the first five terms of the course. The traditional aim was for students to develop their ability to read fluently in Latin (especially the Aeneid of Virgil) and Greek (concentrating on the Iliad and the Odyssey); this remains the case today, but the course has changed to reflect the continuing decline in the numbers of applicants who have had the opportunity to study Greek and Latin at school.
Since the early 1970s, it has been possible to begin learning Greek during the preparation for Mods (an option originally called Mods-B, the brainchild of John G Griffiths of Jesus). More recently, due to the omission of Latin and Greek from the National Curriculum since 1988, options have been added for those without Latin either.
There are now five alternative paths through Mods.
- Students with both Latin and Greek at A-level or equivalent take the traditional route, Mods IA.
- Those with one such language do Mods IB (Latin plus beginners' Greek) or Mods IC (Greek plus beginners' Latin).
- Students with a strong aptitude for languages who have not learnt Latin or Greek can take either Mods IIA (beginners' Latin only) or Mods IIB (beginners' Greek only).
Language tuition is now organized centrally within the University by the Faculty of Classics; this leaves the colleges free to concentrate on teaching classical literature/rhetoric, history and philosophy.
The Mods examination has a reputation as something of an ordeal: it evolved in the 21st century from 11 or 12 three-hour papers across seven consecutive days into 10 or 11 three-hour papers across seven or eight days. Candidates for Classical Mods thus still face a much larger number of exams than undergraduates reading for most other degrees at Oxford sit for their Mods, Prelims or even, in many cases, Finals.
Students who successfully pass Mods may then go on to study the full Greats course in their remaining seven terms. Those choosing the 'Course II' version are expected to read as many of their Finals texts in the original of their chosen language as those on Course I; there is, moreover, the option of studying the second Classical language as two papers at Finals.
The traditional Greats course consisted of detailed study of Roman and Greek History and Philosophy, contrasting ancient (Plato and Aristotle) and modern. In 1968 an elective 'Latin and Greek Literature' was added; students chose two of the three.
Since then, various combined courses have also been developed including:
- Classics and modern languages;
- Ancient and modern history; and
- Classical archaeology and ancient history.
In 2004 the full Lit. Hum. course was revised; students examined since 2008 now choose eight papers from a wide range of subject areas:
- Ancient history — "period" papers ranging from the pre-history of Greece to the first Flavian emperors in Rome; or "topic" papers, on such subjects as Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World or Athenian democracy.
- Philosophy — from Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics to more modern philosophers, such as Kant and Wittgenstein
- Ancient literature — including "core" papers on mainstream Greek and Latin texts, plus various individual authors and other topics
- Philology (classical linguistics) — including such papers as 'Greek from Linear B to the Koine', 'Oscan & Umbrian' and 'General Linguistics and Comparative Philology'
- Classical art and archaeology from vases to buildings
- Second classical language — for those who only offered one language at Mods
- Optional special thesis as a ninth paper; theses can be offered within each of the first five options
The regulations governing the combinations of papers are moderately simple: students must take at least four papers based on the study of ancient texts in the original Latin or Greek; otherwise they can choose what they want, provided only that if they offer literature papers, they must offer the appropriate "core" papers too, and if they choose to offer "period" papers in history then they must offer one of the approved combinations.
In the past it was compulsory also to offer papers in unprepared translation from Latin and Greek into English; these papers counted "below the line" — candidates were required to pass them, but they did not otherwise affect the overall class of the degree. This requirement has now been dropped, and it is possible to pass Greats without offering any unprepared translation papers. The formerly optional prose and verse composition papers (English into Latin and Greek) have been removed from the Greats syllabus entirely.
- Sir Isaiah Berlin, Historian of Ideas, Oxonian professor
- Denis Healey, read Greats at Balliol 1936-1939, Labour politician, served as Defence Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s.
- Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
- Ronald Knox, Catholic priest, theologian, writer and apologist
- C. S. Lewis, novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, and Christian apologist
- Harold Macmillan, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, read Mods (Latin and Greek), the first half of the four-year Oxford Greats course, at Balliol from 1912-1914, interrupted by service in the First World War.
- H.H. Asquith, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- Peter Snow CBE, British television and radio presenter, historian
- Yang Xianyi, translator of Dream of the Red Chamber into English
- Oscar Wilde, prolific Irish writer and poet. Attained a rare double first in his BA of Classical Moderations and Literae Humaniores (Greats).
- Bernard Williams, British moral philosopher
- Anthony Leggett, Theoretical Physicist and winner of Nobel Prize in Physics
- Cook, Stephen (February 18, 2003). "Latin types". The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
- "The Classics Faculty at Oxford". Retrieved 2005-07-12.
- "The Philosophy Faculty at Oxford". Retrieved 2006-09-08.