Classics

Classics in Cambridge

The course
You won't, I hope, need telling that Classics in Cambridge is positively eructating with vim, vigour and vitality - or that our opening sentence demonstrates both the Latinity at the root of our own language and the magic of metaphor (two words which come, of course, from the Greek...). Some years ago we celebrated the opening of what is comfortably the finest purpose-built Faculty building in the country (complete with magnificent Museum and Cast Gallery); many people from the worlds of business, commerce, and journalism as well as education (most of them ex-Classicists) helped us make the celebration especially memorable. Classics in Cambridge is alive and well: come and be one of the 80 or so undergraduates admitted to read Classics in the University each year and help us to ensure that the subject continues to thrive in the new millennium.

Perhaps the most distinctive and attractive feature of the Classical 'Tripos' (which mysteriously has only two Parts.... but then May Week hereabouts is in June) is its flexibility. In the first two years (Part I), besides the compulsory language and literature papers (the basic syllabus differs slightly depending on whether you are an 'Intensive Greek' or 'Intensive Latin' or have done Greek or Latin at A level) you choose two out of four 'subject' papers: History, Philosophy, Archaeology/Art History, Philology/Linguistics. In Part II the choice is almost infinite: you can become a specialist literary critic or philosopher or ancient historian or archaeologist or linguist; or you can be half of one of these and a quarter each of two of the others; or you can be an interdisciplinarian (Group X for cross-over). You can replace one paper with a thesis; or you can borrow a paper from another Tripos (English, History, etc. etc.) If even that range of options doesn't satisfy you, then don't forget the 'MML & Classics' Course, ie: a combination of one of the two Classical languages with a modern one (Latin with French is an 'obvious' possibility, but at Clare we have also had students doing Ancient and Modern Greek, Ancient Greek and German, Latin and Italian - you name it).

But why confine yourself to our bare summary? For the full works, write to the Schools Co-ordinator, Dr Rosanna Omitowoju, c/o the Faculty of Classics, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA, for a copy of the Faculty's 'Undergraduate Handbook', or take a look on the web at www.classics.cam.ac.uk. Or, better still, come to one of the several Open Days we hold each year.

New Four-Year Course in Classics
For the first time in 2003, the Faculty of Classics admitted students to a new four-year B.A. degree course. The course is intended for those applicants who have not yet had the opportunity to study either Latin or Greek to A2 level at school or college. Even those who have no Latin at all are encouraged to apply.

All students accepted for the course will be asked to attend the JACT Latin Summer School in the summer before they arrive in Cambridge. The first year of the course will introduce students to Latin language and Roman culture through the close study of original Latin texts. Much of this teaching will take place in Faculty-based classes, but there will also be College supervisions.

The second-year of the course will allow students to begin to learn Greek. After attending the Greek Summer School they will join the intensive Greek programme and begin the same course of lectures and supervisions as is taken by the three-year classics students who arrive in Cambridge with an A2 level, or equivalent, in Latin.

Studying Classics at Clare
Classics is unusually well represented at senior level in Clare. Besides myself, Dr Charles Weiss (I specialise in language instruction and the ancient novel; click here for a little taste of what we do in term), and Professor Paul Cartledge (Greek History), we are also fortunate to have Dr Dominic Scott as a Fellow of Clare: though a member of the Philosophy Faculty, he specialises in ancient Greek philosophy (especially Plato) and he read Classics at Clare.

Candidates who wish to combine their Classics with a Modern Language will find their studies being directed by someone who himself followed that undergraduate course, Professor Philip Ford (a specialist in the French Renaissance).

Students reading Classics at Clare can therefore be taught 'in house' for a great deal of their course, but they will also be directed to supervisors outside the college. A typical term's supervision work in the first two years consists of four literature essays, plus two essays on each of the student's chosen 'subject' papers (eg: History and Philosophy), together with weekly language work (compulsory translation, plus optional composition in prose and/or verse). In Part II the four papers or three papers plus thesis are supervised essentially over the first two terms; typically, supervision here occurs outside the college, sometimes (eg in the case of the interdisciplinary Group X) on a Faculty basis. All that and lectures too....

The Classics programme is both intellectually and organisationally demanding. On the other hand, it is very hard indeed to get bored by it - and even more difficult to persuade us that you are. But in case of that unlikely event, or any other personal difficulty, we are available to help you get over your problems as positively and as painlessly as possible - this is one of the great strengths of the collegiate system of cooperative learning. Do try to come and study here with us.

Admissions Requirements
Admission to Cambridge follows much the same procedure as for other universities, except that admission is by Colleges rather than through a centralised Faculty.  However, the Faculty of Classics does its utmost to monitor admissions, for example by ensuring that every candidate is interviewed at two Colleges, not only the College of her/his choice). Fill in the standard UCAS form in the usual way, listing Cambridge among your five university choices and naming one College (e.g.) Clare as your choice.

Interviews
Clare Classics candidates are normally interviewed early in December by two or three specialist Classicists. In addition to the interview, a one-hour test is given to all candidates: translation of a piece of Latin or Greek, and then a short essay on a topic of general interest with some special relevance to the Latin or Greek passage set.

Conditional offers are normally based on A2 levels (or Advanced Highers or relevant qualifications) alone, usually three 'A' grades and, if Greek or Latin is not being taken at A2 level, an 'A' grade in Latin or Greek is normally a (sensible) Faculty requirement. (About a half of each year's intake is currently 'Intensive' Greek.) The minimum requirement for admission, as stated in the current University Prospectus, is a very good grade in either GCSE Greek or GCSE Latin.

If you wish to apply for the new four-year course outlined above, the procedure is exactly the same; offers will be made on the basis of A2 level (or equivalent) examination results, a typical offer being AAA.

Fellows in Classics at Clare
Professor Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek History
Dr Charles Weiss, Language Teaching Officer in Classics and College Lecturer in Classics

 

 

Guide to Subjects

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                  Dr Charles Weiss