Requirements
Classics Major
The classics major consists of nine courses with concentrations in three possible areas: classical studies, ancient mediterranean archaeology, and classical languages and literatures. Courses taught by faculty in the Classics Department are designated by four different rubrics: ARCH, CLAS, GRK, and LATN. Any course designated by one of these rubrics, including First-Year Writing Seminars, counts as what is termed a “departmental course” in the following major requirements.
Classical Studies Concentration
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select at least one departmental course at the 1000 level | 1 | |
| Select at least three departmental courses at the 2000 level | 3 | |
| Select at least two departmental courses at the 3000 level | 2 | |
| Select at least three courses at any level a | 3 | |
| a | Students may count as one of their required departmental courses any one appropriate course taught in another department, e.g., anthropology, art history, government, philosophy, religion, with the consultation and approval of classics faculty. |
Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology Concentration
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select at least two archaeology (ARCH) courses at the 1000 level | 2 | |
| Select at least three archaeology (ARCH) courses at the 2000 level | 3 | |
| Select at least one archaeology (ARCH) course at the 3000 level | 1 | |
| Select at least three departmental courses at any level b | 3 | |
| b | Students may count as one of their required departmental courses any one appropriate course taught in another department, e.g., anthropology, art history, government, philosophy, religion, with the consultation and approval of classics faculty. |
Classical Languages and Literatures Concentration
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select at least five Greek (GRK) and/or Latin (LATN) courses at any level | 5 | |
| Select at least one Greek (GRK) and/or Latin (LATN) course at the 3000 level | 1 | |
| Select at least three departmental courses at any level c | 3 | |
| c | Students may count as one of their required departmental courses any one appropriate course taught in another department, e.g., anthropology, art history, government, philosophy, religion, with the consultation and approval of classics faculty. |
Classics Minor
The classics minor consists of five courses, with concentrations in five possible areas: Greek, Latin, classical languages and literatures, ancient Mediterranean archaeology, and classical studies. Courses taught by faculty in the Classics Department are designated by four different rubrics: ARCH, CLAS, GRK, and LATN. Any course designated by one of these rubrics, including First-Year Writing Seminars, counts as what is termed a “departmental course” in the following minor requirements.
Greek
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select at least four Green (GRK) courses at any level | 4 | |
| Select at least one departmental course at any level d | 1 | |
Latin
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select at least four Latin (LATN) courses at any level | 4 | |
| Select at least one departmental course at any level d | 1 | |
Classics
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select at least four Greek (GRK) and/or Latin (LATN) courses at any level | 4 | |
| Select at least one Greek (GRK) and/or Latin (LATN) course at the 3000 level or above | 1 | |
Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select at least one archaeology (ARCH) course at the 1000 level | 1 | |
| Select at least one archaeology course at the 2000 level | 1 | |
| Select at least one archaeology course at the 3000 level | 1 | |
| Select at least two departmental courses at any level d | 2 | |
| d | Students may count as one of their required departmental courses any one appropriate course taught in another department, e.g., anthropology, art history, government, philosophy, religion, with the consultation and approval of classics faculty. |
Classical Studies
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select at least two departmental courses at the 2000 level | 2 | |
| Select at least one departmental course at the 3000 level | 1 | |
| Select at least two departmental courses at any level d | 2 | |
| d | Students may count as one of their required departmental courses any one appropriate course taught in another department, e.g., anthropology, art history, government, philosophy, religion, with the consultation and approval of classics faculty. |
The department participates in an interdisciplinary program in archaeology and art history. See the Interdisciplinary Majors.
Additional Information and Department Policies
- Courses that count toward the programs offered by the department must be taken for regular letter grades (not Credit/D/Fail), and students must earn grades of C- or better in these courses.
- One first-year writing seminar may count toward the major and minor.
- Normally, independent studies and honors projects only count toward the major or minor with prior approval of the department.
- Majors and minors may double-count one course with another department or program.
Classics and Archaeology at Bowdoin and Abroad
Archaeology classes regularly use the outstanding collection of ancient art in the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. Of special note are the exceptionally fine holdings in Greek painted pottery and the very full and continuous survey of Greek and Roman coins. In addition, there are numerous opportunities for study or work abroad.
Bowdoin is a participating member of the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, where students majoring in classics can study in the junior year. It is also possible to receive course credit for field experience on excavations. Interested students should consult members of the department for further information. Students can count up to four courses taken abroad toward the major; up to three in one semester, or four from a full year abroad. Students can count up to two courses taken abroad toward the minor; one per semester spent abroad. Students must consult with departmental faculty prior in order to determine course eligibility.
Students contemplating graduate study in classics or classical archaeology are advised to begin the study of at least one modern language in college, as most graduate programs require competence in French and German as well as in Latin and Greek.
Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate (AP/IB)
Students who received a minimum score of four on the Latin AP exam are eligible to receive a general credit toward the degree if they take a Latin course at the 3000 level and earn a minimum grade of B-. Regardless of AP scores, students should complete the placement questionnaire. No major or minor credit is given. In order to receive credit for advanced placement work, students must have their scores officially reported to the Office of the Registrar by the end of their sophomore year at Bowdoin. Students who took the Latin IB exam should consult the department for credit.
Information for Incoming Students
Classics is the study of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds within the broader context of the ancient Mediterranean and the ancient Near East. Our discipline combines the study of art history, archaeology, history, literature, philosophy, and the languages of Greek and Latin. Our students use these multiple perspectives in order to better understand and better imagine the diversity of peoples who lived thousands of years before us, to reflect on what this past has meant to later ages, and to learn more about how it continues to shape our own ideas in the present day.
Please note that the department offers many other classes under the archaeology and classics rubrics that are designed for first-year student enrollment, and have spaces set aside especially for first-year students. These classes do not require any knowledge of Latin or Greek, nor do they require any prior study of the Classical World. For fall 2024, this includes a first year writing seminar, CLAS 1017 The Heroic Age: Ancient Supermen and Wonder Women, ARCH 1103 Egyptian Archaeology, CLAS 2103 Then and Now: The Erasure of Indigenous Voices, CLAS 2736 Ancient Greek Medicine, CLAS 2787 Thucydides and the Invention of Political Theory, and CLAS 3310 Imagining Rome.
Students interested in beginning Latin should enroll in LATN 1101 Elementary Latin I which is offered in the fall. Students interested in beginning Greek should enroll in GRK 1101 Elementary Greek I, which is offered in the spring. Because of the sequential nature of language study and the pattern of offerings in the department, students should plan on taking both semesters of Latin over one academic year; students interested in the elementary Greek sequence should plan to take GRK 1101 Elementary Greek I in the spring and GRK 1102 Elementary Greek II the following fall.
Students who have studied Latin or Greek in high school, as well as students interested in beginning Latin or Greek here at Bowdoin, should complete the Latin or Greek placement questionnaire in Blackboard in the summer prior to matriculation. In order to make placement recommendations we take into consideration past study, AP and SAT II scores, and a brief conversation with the student about their interests. Most first-year students who are continuing Latin enroll in either LATN 2203 Intermediate Latin for Reading or LATN 2206 The Roman Novel. Students with exceptionally strong backgrounds, however, may enroll in LATN 3306 The Roman Novel. Most first-year students who are continuing Greek enroll in GRK 1102 Elementary Greek II.
Members of the Classics Department faculty are always happy to talk with students individually in order to discuss placement and sequencing of courses.
This is an excerpt from the official Bowdoin College Catalogue and Academic Handbook. View the Catalogue