Classics

Classics is the study of ancient Greece and Rome in the full richness of their languages, literatures, philosophies, histories, and material cultures, and the long legacy of these civilisations in the centuries that followed. Reading Greek and Latin authors in their original languages is at the core of the discipline, developing a rigour of interpretation and a depth of textual engagement that few other degrees can match. But classics is also a broad and evolving field, encompassing archaeology, art history, ancient history, classical reception, and the study of how ancient cultures have been understood, reinterpreted, and contested from the Renaissance to the present.

At Durham University, one of the UK's highest-ranking universities with a distinguished classics department, this programme includes a foundation year, a sandwich placement year, a year abroad, and a work placement. The foundation year prepares students who need additional academic grounding, while the year abroad gives you the experience of studying classics in another country and academic tradition, perhaps in Italy, Greece, or elsewhere in Europe where the ancient world is most directly present. The sandwich year and work placement add professional experience to the rich academic and international dimensions of the degree, connecting your classical education to the range of careers that classics graduates pursue.

You will develop your ability to read Greek and Latin with increasing sophistication, engage with the literature, philosophy, and history of the ancient world, and work with archaeological and art historical material. Durham's collegiate environment gives you a strong intellectual community, and the department has excellent research strengths across the full range of classical disciplines.

Classics graduates from Durham are found in law, the civil service, journalism, publishing, arts and heritage, education, academic research, and management consulting, among many other fields. The analytical rigour and cultural breadth of the degree are valued across essentially any professional context.