Classics

Classics is the study of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds in all their complexity: their languages, literatures, history, philosophy, art, archaeology and the ways in which these civilisations have shaped Western culture, law, politics and thought for the past two millennia. It is one of the oldest academic disciplines and one of the most rigorous, demanding close attention to primary sources in their original languages and the kind of patient interpretive scholarship that yields genuine insight into radically different but deeply influential ways of organising human life.

At Birkbeck College in London, this part-time programme immerses you in the cultures and languages of ancient Greece and Rome, with deep knowledge of ancient Greek and Latin enriching your engagement with a wide range of options in ancient history, literature, archaeology and philosophy. The part-time mode makes classics accessible to those who are working or have other commitments, which is appropriate for a subject whose students come to it out of genuine intellectual passion at all stages of life.

You will study the texts, histories and cultures of the classical world, engaging with Homer and the Greek tragedians, Cicero and Virgil, Plato and Aristotle, Thucydides and Tacitus, as well as the material culture that archaeology has revealed. Language study, close reading, historical analysis and the ability to construct well-evidenced arguments are all central to how classicists work.

Graduates go on to careers in education, law, journalism, publishing, heritage, the civil service and a wide range of other fields where rigorous analytical training and cultural literacy are valued. The intellectual discipline of classics is recognised across many professions. Many continue to postgraduate study in classical studies, ancient history, philosophy or archaeology, including doctoral research.