Designated Emphasis in Classics and Classical Reception

OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM

Why enroll in the Designated Emphasis in Classics and the Classical Tradition?

Classics, defined as the study of the civilizations of the ancient Greeks and Romans, lies at the core of the humanities and of many social sciences. The Greeks and Romans made fundamental contributions to art, drama, philosophy, history and historiography, science and medicine, and to most branches of literature, and their achievements have exercised a formative influence on western civilization. As it is defined today, Classics is an inherently interdisciplinary subject, for it embraces all aspects of ancient Greek and Roman societies. As a result, the study of Classics is of value to graduate students in a large number of academic fields. Students whose interests lie in areas where knowledge of Greek and Roman literature, history, and culture has direct impact on their research program will benefit from systematic training in both the theory and methodology of research in Classics.

In addition to the study of the languages, literature, and culture of Mediterranean antiquity, another important aspect of the Designated Emphasis is the study of the Classical Tradition. While the languages and culture of the ancient Greeks and Romans ceased during the fifth century of the Christian era, the significance of their accomplishments continued to be recognized. The Classical Tradition focuses on the influence exerted by the achievements of the Greeks and Romans on later centuries. As the various vernacular literature of Europe (and later the Americas) developed, from the Middle Ages onwards, writers constantly turned for inspiration to the models provided by the Greeks and Romans in lyric, epic, tragedy, comedy, historiography, and philosophy. In addition to the survival of Greek and Roman cultural achievements, the revival of Classical intellectual thought has had an enormous impact on modern scientific thought, political theory and practice, an impact that extends to non-Western cultures.

The Designated Emphasis in Classics and the Classical Tradition is intended to address both of these areas of inquiry by offering a program of structured training at the graduate level in an important field of field of academic study, the civilizations of Greek and Roman antiquity, which is not currently available in existing graduate programs at UC Davis.

The Designated Emphasis has two goals:

1. It will provide graduate students with an overview of the history, theory, and methods of Classical scholarship, which will familiarize them with the primary and secondary sources needed to evaluate those aspects of Greek and Roman antiquity connected with their own research.

2. It will equip students with the tools, including advanced study in Greek and Latin language, needed to conduct research on the impact of Greek and Roman civilization on their own field.

To date, the following Ph.D. programs are affiliated with the Designated Emphasis in Classics: English, Comparative Literature, French, German, Spanish, and History.

THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM

A. Admissions Criteria

Any student admitted to a participating doctoral program is eligible for admission, provided that:

a) The candidate has begun the study of either Latin or Greek; and
b) The candidate intends to complete a dissertation in which the topic relates to, and incorporates, some aspect of Classics, Classical scholarship, or classical reception.

B. Curriculum

• Three upper division courses in either Latin or Greek - 12 units
• CLA 200A - 4 units
• CLA 200B - 4 units
• One (1) additional course to be selected in consultation with the student's DE advisor. This course may be another course in Classics or a course in another department which emphasizes the connection of Classics and Classical receptions with the student's field of study. - 4 units

2. Elective courses

Students may add courses in Classics or a related field, but we do not anticipate that many students will have schedules that allow this option.

3. Qualifying Examination

The student's Qualifying Examination Committee must include at least one member of the DE faculty. The DE member of the Qualifying Exam Committee shall be recommended by the Executive Committee of the DE. The Chair of the DE and the student's Ph.!D. program Graduate Adviser must co-sign the Qualifying Examination Committee form, which is submitted to Graduate Studies for approval by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The Qualifying Examination will assess the student's depth and breadth of knowledge within the area of the DE, as well as the Ph.D. program area. Satisfactory performance on the Qualifying Examination for the Ph.D. will be judged independently from performance on the DE. Thus, an allowable outcome of the Qualifying Examination is that the student's performance may be "passing" for the Ph.D. but "not passing" for the DE. In the event that a student passes the Ph.D. qualifying exam, but receives a "not pass" for the DE, the Executive Committee of the DE will define a plan for remediation. The plan may include, but is not limited tore-examination by the DE Executive Committee, coursework, teaching, or preparation of a paper. If the student is re-examined, the remediation outcome will be assessed as "pass" or "fail." If the student receives a "fail," a recommendation will be made to the Dean of the Office of Graduate Studies for disqualification from the DE.

4. Dissertation Requirements

The student's Dissertation Committee shall be selected in accordance with the regulations of the Ph.D. program, but must include at least one member of the DE faculty. The DE member may be the Dissertation Committee Chair. The dissertation topic will be relevant to the area of the DE.

5. Degree Conferral Process:

The Designated Emphasis will be awarded solely in conjunction with the Ph.D. and will be signified by the degree designation "Ph.D. in X with Emphasis in Classics and Classical Receptions," where X is the Ph.D. program.

C. Student Advising

The DE will appoint a faculty adviser for each student admitted. This adviser may be different from the adviser appointed by the student's department, and if so will serve the candidate only in matters relating to the DE. The student's DE adviser and / or the DE chair will meet with the student each quarter to assess progress, consult, and offer advice. At least once a year the DE adviser will review the programs of all students in the DE.

D. Impact on Time to Degree

If students come to graduate study with some training in Latin or Greek, or if they begin language training in their first year of graduate study, the DE should not significantly prolong their time to degree. We have created the DE for students who need facility in Latin or Greek and who therefore would be studying the languages intensively even if the DE did not exist. The revised DE gives these students advice and training in the languages from the beginning of their graduate careers and will ideally streamline their studies. The required courses offer the essential tools for dissertation research. We have planned CLA 200B to facilitate the writing of one chapter of the dissertation under the direction of DE faculty.