BA/BS in Classical and Ancient Studies

Classics and Ancient Studies at Barnard covers societies of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, including Egypt and Nubia as well as the Levant, Greek, and Roman worlds. Lectures and seminars take an interdisciplinary view that combines languages, texts, archaeology, religion, philosophy, and the later afterlife of antiquity. Faculty pay close attention to ethnicity, gender, class, and power in ancient societies, and to the ways later eras, including today, have drawn on or misused the ancient world. Learning ancient languages lets students read philosophers, poets, political thinkers, playwrights, and even anonymous graffiti writers directly. Majors can apply to spend one semester, ideally in their junior year, at the Rome Center operated by the consortium for classical studies. There they study ancient history, archaeology, Greek and Latin writing, and art, and the credits can often apply to the major.