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College of Arts & Sciences
- Undergraduate
Educational Objectives | Degree Programs | Major | Minor | Departmental Honors
Introduction
Every culture and civilization has its classics: those works of art that are seen as the best of their kind, have withstood the test of time, and embody the symbolic values of their society. In the western tradition, the study of 'Classics' has focused upon the literatures and cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, and their impact on the whole subsequent history of the western world.
The significance of the study of Classics to the history of the academy would be difficult to overstate. Indeed the entire notion of a 'university,' from the days of mediaeval Paris, Bologna, Oxford, and Heidelberg on, was founded consciously and explicitly upon the study of Greek and Latin literatures and thought. The discipline has been conceived in unusually broad terms; it is intended to encompass everything that can be known about the ancient Mediterranean world. Because of this, there is room in Classics for the study of areas as disparate as literature, science, sculpture, history, architecture, religion, philosophy, theater, economics, music -- in short, the entire panorama of human endeavor. It is no wonder that the study of Classics has always tended to attract some of the liveliest and most brilliant intellects; and it is equally unsurprising that a students majoring in Classics find themselves extremely well-prepared for undertaking practically any type of career, whether that be in politics, law, teaching, commercial publishing, research of all kinds, medicine, journalism, banking, or the corporate world. A degree in Classics marks the UM graduate as a man or woman of superior analytical and critical skills, one who has proved able to cope with the most rigorous academic curriculum, and who is exceptionally broadly educated in the most fundamental aspects of what it means to be human.
Educational Objectives
The educational objectives of the Department of Classics may be stated in a variety of ways, and on a number of levels. In terms of linguistic competency, students majoring or minoring in Classics are required reach an appropriate level of fluency in reading ancient Greek or Latin, or both. In terms of cultural literacy, students of the Classics are educated within a rigorous curriculum exposing them to the great literary works and material cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. In terms of critical thinking, students of the Classics are trained to hone the skills of memory, analysis, and synthesis, skills that they will be able to apply for the rest of their lives in any realm of thought whatsoever.
But -- stated in the most philosophical terms -- the goal of an education in Classics is to foster and inculcate an ever-burgeoning awareness of what Cicero referred to as <i>humanitas</i> -- in short, everything it is to be human. It is the mission of Classics to expose its students to the greatest thoughts and endeavors of the human race, and to encourage them to think about what that greatness consists in, and how to enlarge upon it. The profoundest educational objective of the Department of Classics is to preserve and study all that is important or beautiful about the past, in order best to prepare for the future.
Degree Programs
The Department of Classics offers the Major and the Minor in Classics; for details on these, see below.
Major
The undergraduate Major in Classics at UM has four tracks. For more details on these four ways of earning the B.A. in Classics at UM, see the Department's website, specifically the page at http://www.as.miami.edu/classics/major.htm.
Minor
Students may instead elect to Minor in Classics at UM. For more details on the requirements for the Minor in Classics, see the Department's website, specifically the page at http://www.as.miami.edu/classics/curriculum.htm.
Departmental Honors
Some Classics Majors may qualify to graduate with Departmental Honors in Classics. In order to earn Departmental Honors, the student must maintain a minimum average of 3.5 in all Classics courses (those labeled CLA, GRE, and LAT), plus an overall minimum GPA of 3.5. In addition, they must complete CLA 495 and CLA 496 with a grade of B or higher.
In addition, Classics Majors, Classics Minors, and other students who meet certain academic criteria are eligible for membership in Eta Sigma Phi, the National Honors Society for Classics.
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