| UCAS code | 1234 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1 year full time 2 years part time |
| Entry year | 2021 |
| Contact | Programme Director Katharine Earnshaw |
| Typical offer | 2:1 Honours degree |
|---|---|
| Campus | Streatham Campus |
| Discipline | Classics and Ancient History |
| UCAS code | 1234 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1 year full time 2 years part time |
| Entry year | 2020 |
| Contact | Programme Director Katharine Earnshaw |
| Typical offer | 2:1 Honours degree |
|---|---|
| Campus | Streatham Campus |
| Discipline | Classics and Ancient History |
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 or select one of our pathways and have the specialism named in your degree title
- Our academics are all active researchers who consistently attract funding from external resources including Leventis, Levenhulme, the WellcomeTrust and the Arts and Humanities Research Council
6th in the UK for research power in Classics
Times Higher Education research power ranking based on Research Excellence Framework 2014
Top 10 in all major UK university league tables for the subject
Top 100 worldwide for Classics and Ancient History
QS World University Subject Rankings 2021
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
- Pearson
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 programme is a one year full-time programme of study at National Qualification Framework level 7. The programme can also be studied part time. The programme is further divided into units of study called ‘modules’ which are assigned a number of ‘credits’. The credit rating of a module is proportional to the total workload, with 1 credit being nominally equivalent to 10 hours of work.
Our flexible programme enables you to choose either a specific pathway OR a selection of modules, which may be decided after your date of entry to the MA in Classics and Ancient History.
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
2021/22 entry
UK fees per year:
£9,200 full-time; £4,600 part-time
International fees per year:
£19,400 full-time
Scholarships
The University of Exeter is offering scholarships to the value of over £4 million for students starting with us in September 2021. Details of scholarships, including our Global Excellence scholarships and GREAT scholarships (British Council and the GREAT Britain Campaign) for international fee paying students, can be found on our dedicated funding page.
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.
Final term
In your final term you will design, research and write 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 methodology you need to be a success.
Independent study
Throughout your programme you will have the opportunity to explore your personal interests through directed independent study. If you decide you would like to progress to a PhD we will help you prepare with one-to-one mentoring as you develop a research proposal and prepare applications for funding.
Research
We are proud of our research. We are currently ranked 6th in the UK for research power by the Times Higher Education with 75% of our research classified as world-leading or internationally excellent. We have a real research culture at Exeter, with international conferences and regular publications. We hope that you will become part of that culture and add to our research strength.
Expertise
Our academic staff have a broad range of expertise and ground-breaking research interests, some of the research streams available on our MA reflect these. We regularly review and update our MA programme to reflect both the needs of our students and the latest emerging research within the field. Some of the areas we have a special research interest include:
- Ancient and modern philosophy, especially metaphysics and ethics
- Archaeology and material culture, especially of the Roman world
- Classical art and visual culture
- Classics in the history of sexuality
- Comparative philology and linguistics
- 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, including Lucian, Athenaeus, ecphrasis
- Hellenistic history, especially the barbarian interface and the Greek culture of Asia Minor Medicine in antiquity, especially Galen
- Latin literature
- Migration and mobility, especially in Italy and the Roman empire
My research centres around Latin hexameter poetry (in particular the authors Lucan, Lucretius and Virgil), and texts such as Seneca's Natural Questions, especially where they initiate a discourse with 'science', geography, and philosophy.
I am interested in how we learn about the world with and through texts, and particularly enjoy topics which intersect with modern philosophy and physics.
Read more from Dr Katharine Earnshaw
Dr Katharine Earnshaw
Programme Director
Research centres
A large part of the Department’s research falls under the remit of one of our four research centres:
Supported by a £1.25 million Leverhulme grant, the Centre for Hellenistic and Romano-Greek Culture and Society is rapidly becoming internationally recognised for the study of the history and culture of the post-classical Greek world.
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 was established in the summer of 2019 to acknowledge and build on the extraordinary expertise in the field of classical reception across various Humanities disciplines at Exeter.
Find out more about our research on the Classics and Ancient History website.
Careers
PhD
Many of our students decide to take their studies on to doctoral level and we are very happy to provide mentoring and support if you decide to take this path. 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
