| UCAS code | 1234 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1 year full time 2 years part time |
| Entry year | 2023 |
| Campus | Streatham Campus |
| Discipline | Classics and Ancient History |
| Contact | Programme Director Claire Holleran |
| Typical offer | 2:1 Honours degree |
|---|---|
| UCAS code | 1234 |
|---|---|
| Duration | Maximum of 2 years full-time or part-time equivalent |
| Entry year | 2023 |
| Campus | Streatham Campus |
| Discipline | Classics and Ancient History |
| Contact | Programme Director Claire Holleran |
| Typical offer | 2:1 Honours degree |
|---|---|
Overview
- Gain an understanding of Greek and Roman culture and society through guided study and independent research
- Develop advanced research skills and specialist methodologies for the use and analysis of a range of forms of textural and material evidence
- Tailor your programme by choosing a selection of modules to match your interests
- Become part of a friendly and lively community of students and scholars. Exeter has one of the largest and most successful teams of Classics and Ancient History scholars in the country
Fast Track (current Exeter students)
Discover MA Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter.
We are 4th in the UK for world-leading Classics research
Research Excellence Framework 2021
Top 50 worldwide for Classics and Ancient History
QS World University Subject Rankings 2022
Top 10 in all major UK university league tables for the subject
Proactive Classics Society with successful student tutor scheme
Entry requirements
Normally a 2:1 Honours degree (or equivalent) in a related subject.
Entry requirements for international students
English language requirements
- IELTS
- TOEFL
Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and further information on English language requirements.
Course content
The MA Classics and Ancient History is fully flexible allowing you to create your own programme based on your particular interests and aims. We provide a wide variety of specialist modules based on our diverse areas of research, together with optional language teaching at all levels. You will undertake training in specific research skills designed to help you succeed across your MA studies and beyond.
We also offer a range of international opportunities that vary from year to year.
The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.
All students graduate with an MA in Classics and Ancient History, but if you elect to specialise, you will have one of the following pathways named in your degree title:
Ancient Literary Cultures
The programme comprises modules of at least 30 credits from these specialist modules and the CLAM043 Dissertation in Classics and Ancient History module must be relevant to the field of Ancient literary cultures:
| Code | Modules | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CLAM077 | Ancient texts and their interpretation | 15 |
| CLAM079 | Cultures of the body in the Roman empire | 15 |
| CLAM080 | Exemplarity: literature, memory and ethics | 15 |
| CLAM082 | Guided Reading in Greek and Latin Authors | 15 |
| CLAM104 | Cultural transformations in Late Antiquity | 15 |
| CLAM107 | Roman myth | 15 |
| CLAM111 | Ancient Drama in its social and cultural context | 15 |
Classical Reception
The programme comprises modules of at least 30 credits from these specialist modules and the CLAM043 Dissertation in Classics and Ancient History module must be relevant to the field of Classical reception:
| Code | Modules | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CLAM080 | Exemplarity: literature, memory and ethics | 15 |
| CLAM078 | Introduction to Classical reception | 15 |
| CLAM084 | Politics: ancient and modern | 15 |
| CLAM101 | The Western Dragon in lore, literature and art | 15 |
| CLAM107 | Roman myth | 15 |
| CLAM109 | Visions of Rome: Uses and Abuses of the Eternal City | 15 |
Encounters, Mobilities and Connections
The programme comprises modules of at least 30 credits from these specialist modules and the CLAM043 Dissertation in Classics and Ancient History module must be relevant to the theme of Encounters, mobilities and connections:
| Code | Modules | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CLAM083 | Life and Death in a multi-cultural society: Graeco-Roman Egypt | 15 |
| CLAM046 | The City of Rome | 30 |
| CLAM100 | History through art and archaeology | 15 |
| CLAM102 | Hellenistic culture and society – history | 15 |
| CLAM104 | Cultural transformations in Late Antiquity | 15 |
| CLAM105 | Migration and the Migrant through ancient and modern eyes | 15 |
| CLAM108 | Rome: globalisation, materiality | 15 |
Material and Visual Cultures
The programme comprises modules of at least 30 credits from these specialist modules and the CLAM043 Dissertation in Classics and Ancient History module must be relevant to the field of Material and visual cultures:
| Code | Modules | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CLAM083 | Life and Death in a multi-cultural society: Graeco-Roman Egypt | 15 |
| CLAM046 | The City of Rome | 30 |
| CLAM100 | History through art and archaeology | 15 |
| CLAM105 | Migration and the Migrant through ancient and modern eyes | 15 |
| CLAM108 | Rome: globalisation, materiality | 15 |
Politics, Economy and Society
| Code | Modules | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CLAM084 | Politics: ancient and modern | 15 |
| CLAM074 | Gods among men: Leadership in Ancient Greece | 15 |
| CLAM102 | Hellenistic culture and society – history | 15 |
| CLAM104 | Cultural transformations in Late Antiquity | 15 |
| CLAM105 | Migration and the Migrant through ancient and modern eyes | 15 |
Science, Technology, Astronomy, Medicine, and Philosophy
The programme comprises modules of at least 30 credits from these specialist modules and the CLAM043 Dissertation in Classics and Ancient History module must be relevant to the fields of Science, technology, astronomy, medicine and philosophy:
| Code | Modules | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CLAM076 | Ancient astronomy and the cosmological imagination | 15 |
| CLAM079 | Cultures of the body in the Roman empire | 15 |
| CLAM081 | Galen and Galenism | 15 |
| CLAM085 | Technology and the technological in Classical Antiquity | 15 |
| CLAM106 | Ancient Philosophy: truth and ancient thought | 15 |
Course variants
- May suit you if you prefer to carry out an independent research project under the supervision of an academic
- Assessed by a written dissertation of up to 40,000 words
- Formal qualification without the long-term commitment of a PhD
- Successful completion could lead to further doctoral research
Fees
2023/24 entry
UK fees per year:
£11,000 full-time; £5,500 part-time
International fees per year:
£22,500 full-time; £11,250 part-time
Scholarships
We invest heavily in scholarships for talented prospective Masters students and have over £2.5 million in scholarships available for students applying to study with us in 2023, including our Global Excellence Scholarships* and Green Futures Scholarships* for international fee paying students.
For information on how you can fund your postgraduate degree at the University of Exeter, please visit our dedicated funding page.
*Selected programmes only. Please see the Terms and Conditions for each scheme for further details.
Teaching and research
Teaching
Before you begin your MA we will sit down with you to discuss your module choices and help you build your programme of study. Throughout the course we will support you, mainly through a personal tutor who will meet with you regularly to discuss progress, results and feedback.
Your teaching will mainly be through small group discussions and seminars where you will present your work and take part in debates. We use a variety of methods including seminars, student-led groups and one-to-one supervision. You will also have the opportunity to join postgraduate reading groups and benefit from working collaboratively with your fellow students.
Throughout your programme you will have the opportunity to explore your personal interests through directed independent study.
In your final term you will continue shaping, researching, and writing your dissertation which will be an original project on a topic of your choice. We will teach you the skills and train you in the methodologies you need to be a success.
Research
Exeter has one of the largest and most successful teams of Classics and Ancient History scholars in the country. We are all active academic researchers, working at the forefront of our fields, and are confident in the benefits that our discipline can bring to the wider world.
We have a real research culture at Exeter with international conferences that you could help organise. You will be taught by research-active staff who are at the top of their field. We hope you will become part of that culture and add to our research strength.
Our academic staff have a broad range of expertise and ground-breaking research interests. Some of the areas we have a special research interest include:
- Ancient and modern philosophy, especially metaphysics and ethics
- Ancient political thought and its reception in later societies
- Archaeology and material culture, especially of the Roman world
- Papyrology
- Classical reception
- The history of sexuality and gender
- Digital Humanities
- Greek and Roman epic, tragedy and comedy
- Greek and Roman mythology, religion and magic
- Greek and Roman socio-economic history
- Greek literature in the Roman empire
- Hellenistic history and historiography, especially the Hellenistic dynasties, the barbarian interface and the Greek culture of Asia Minor
- Ancient medicine
- Late Antiquity and religious change
- Latin literature
- Migration, mobility, and connectivity, especially in Italy and the Roman empire
- Global Classics
Facilities
We have a number of dynamic research centres grouped around shared themes in our work.
The Centre for Hellenistic and Romano-Greek Culture and Society is an internationally recognised hub for the study of the history and culture of the post-classical Greek world. Research interests include ancient Macedonia and the Hellenistic dynasties, religion, cultural exchange and heritage, historiography, and the literature of magic.
The Centre for Connectivity in the Roman World examines the ways in which connectivity contributed to the shaping of distinctive cultures, economies and societies across the breadth of the Roman world (and its immediate neighbours).
The Centre for Knowledge in Culture in Antiquity and Beyond brings together research in specialised areas including ancient medicine, ancient science and the scientific imagination, metaphysics, philosophy, ethics, sexual knowledge, military strategy and political thought, and on ancient technical writings from across the Classical world.
The Exeter Centre for Classical Reception brings together an extraordinary concentration of colleagues in English, History, Modern Languages, as well as Classics and Ancient History with an interest in the different ways in which the Greek and Roman world has been presented, interpreted, and reimagined in both the past and the present. We also have close links with other disciplines within the university, particularly digital humanities, archaeology, and theology.
Find out more about our research on the Classics and Ancient History website.
My research interests lie in Roman social and economic history, particularly urban economies, the experience of living in the ancient city, and Roman demography.
I am especially interested in Rome itself, and have published work on the city's retail trade, demography, and street life, as well as editing A Companion to the City of Rome with Amanda Claridge (wiley-Blackwell, 2018).
Read more from Dr Claire Holleran
Dr Claire Holleran
Programme Director
Careers
PhD
Many of our students decide to take their studies on to doctoral level and we are very happy to help you prepare with one-to-one mentoring as you develop a research proposal and submit applications for funding. Of course, a PhD isn’t the only option available to you on completing our MA.
Careers
During your time with us you will have a developed an excellent range of skills in logical thinking, interpreting, analysing and evaluating information, and communication. A range of options will be open to you, you might take a career path in a related area such as museum and cultural heritage work or teaching. Alternatively, you might choose to pursue a different profession using your relevant skills, perhaps joining the Civil Service or working in business, law or management.
Some destinations of graduates from Classics and Ancient History programmes are:
- Actor
- Classics Teacher
- Client Executive
- Executive Search Researcher
- Human Resources Adviser
- Lecturer
- Legal Assistant
- Personal Incident Manager
- Producer of West End Shows
- Project Manager
- Property Manager
- Publishing Assistant
- Quality Controller
- Researcher
