What is “Classics”? When you study the Classics, you’re studying the ancient Greeks and Romans—everything about them: how they lived, what they thought and believed, what they wrote, painted, carved, and performed. You’ll work closely with faculty from a variety of fields who believe that antiquity still has many secrets to reveal, not only about our past, but about our society and ourselves.
In the Classics, you will study areas such as:
- ancient history, war, politics, and economics
- literary classics such as Homer, Sophocles, Virgil, and Ovid
- the archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean world
- the art and architecture of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans
- the mythology and religious practices of the Greeks and Romans
- the thought of figures such as Plato, Aristotle, and Lucretius
- the use of the classics in today’s film, books, and other media
Generations of students have found these topics to be highly personally satisfying and rewarding. They also have prized the individual attention that faculty give to students’ intellectual development, and the flexibility that this inherently interdisciplinary field gives to design a plan of study that reflects their interests.
But what about career prospects? These differ depending on the path a student follows. Study of the Classics at ASU proceeds along one of two paths: “Classics” and “Classical Civilization.”
Classics graduates have often found careers as:
- priests, pastors,
- or high school Latin teachers,
- or have gone on to graduate school in literature, history, archaeology, or philosophy.
Classical Civilization graduates often head for
- the K–12 classroom,
- or into other careers using general humanities skills.
Even in careers where the Classics are not directly applicable, employers have come to value classically trained college graduates for the ability their studies have given them to look at an issue closely and from a variety of different perspectives. Classics is, after all, the original interdisciplinary major, the course followed by the great thinkers of the Renaissance and many of the most innovative minds of later centuries, including our own.
Both Classics and Classical Civilization are popular as concurrent majors. They make a good combination with:
- history, adding a deep past to the study of the history of Europe and Western civilization generally
- modern languages, filling in the pre-Renaissance background to literature
- archaeology, adding a focus on a specific ancient culture to the archaeological skillset
- philosophy, helping to understand where the Greeks got their philosophical ideas
- religion, giving a context (and a language) for the development of Christianity
- pre-law and related majors, honing the precision of language that law school demands
Classical principles and classical works of art and literature have been influencing you all your life. Would you like the key to see them clearly? The Classics faculty at ASU are ready for you!
Solis Diaboli (“Devils of the Sun”) is ASU’s Classics club. Anyone interested in any aspect of the classical world is welcome to join. The club schedules a number of fun activities each year, such as classical movie nights, “meet the professor” get-togethers, and a homecoming costume contest including ASU’s only historically accurate togas.
Eta Sigma Phi, the Classics Honors Society, takes its members from students who have succeeded in Greek and Latin language study. ASU’s chapter initiates new members each spring. The club supports Classics events at ASU and provides an avenue for students to submit papers to an annual national conference.
Apples and Archaeology is an outreach program of the Central Arizona chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America. They send archaeologists and other scholars of antiquity to K–12 classrooms in the Phoenix area for special presentations about the ancient world.
The Fall Forum brings high school Latin students from across Arizona to the ASU Tempe campus for a day of presentations, activities, and contests about the ancient Mediterranean world. It usually occurs in October or November. Send an email to Almira Poudrier if you’d like to participate.