The Field

The study of classics includes many aspects of the ancient Mediterranean world, ranging from the Ancient Near East to the Aegean Bronze Age to Classical Greece to Imperial Rome, including North Africa. Depending on students’ own interests, they may tailor a classics major at UMass to include more or less of any of the following subjects: Latin and Greek language and literature, linguistics, ancient history, archaeology and art history, philosophy, ancient religion, and the continuation of Classical civilization and literature into the Middle Ages, Renaissance, early modern, and modern historical periods.

The study of classics at UMass, with its emphasis on close reading and analysis, critical thinking, and careful writing, is excellent training not only for graduate work in classics but also for many professional programs. Students acquire transferable abilities useful in any endeavor: critical thinking, effective verbal and written communication skills, teamwork skills, and language acquisition strategies. 

Classics is widely recognized as a rigorous and dynamic discipline that attracts highly capable, intellectually curious students and provides them with significant training in the arts of analysis and communication. Thus, a classics degree can distinguish students applying to competitive positions or professional schools.

In short, classics provides a diversity of perspectives and a wide range of opportunities for developing intellectual rigor, imaginative thinking, and personal initiative: the very traits that prepare students to succeed in whatever path they choose in life.