Greece. Rome and the Near East

Entry requirements

A good second class honours degree in a relevant subject (typically 2:1 honours) or international equivalent (e.g. USA 3.3 g.p.a.; Greek 6.5 / Lian Kalos). Since all postgraduate degrees are meant to build on your undergraduate work, we ask for a previous degree in a 'relevant' subject. For the MA programme in Greece, Rome and the Near East, you must have studied this field at the highest level of your undergraduate course. English Language requirements Please check requirements for your subject and level of study.

Months of entry

October

Course content

This is a programme geared towards preparing you for higher research into the interaction of the classical world with the Near East - partly through direct research training, and partly through modules taught by experts in their field in small-group seminars.

The relationship between the classical world and neighbouring civilisations is among the most important and most rapidly expanding areas of classical scholarship, and we have particular strength in this field: we offer tuition in Akkadian, and can draw on the resources of the Oriental Museum in Durham and the expertise pooled in the Centre for the Study of the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East. The programme lasts for one year full-time (two years part-time).

Course Structure

You will take modules to a total of 180 or 190 credits. The structure of the course is as follows:

• Core research training module (30 credits)
• Language module in an ancient or modern language relevant to research in the area of Classics or the study of the Mediterranean and Near East (20-40 credits)
• Core module for Greece, Rome and the Near East (30 credits)
• 15,000-word Dissertation (60 credits)
• Optional modules (30-40 credits)

MA modules are 30 credits; you may substitute two undergraduate (20 credit) modules for one MA module. You may also take up to 40 credits of modules offered by other Departments (subject to approval).

Not all modules will be offered every year, and new modules (both elective and core) are added regularly.

Core Modules

• Classical Research Methods and Resources
• Compulsory language module (Latin for research/Ancient Greek for research/another ancient language/modern language)
• Core module for Greece, Rome and the Near East (in 2016-17, options were Akkadian or The Queen of the Desert: Rise and Decline of Palmyra’s Civilization)
• Dissertation.

Optional Modules

Optional modules are offered according to the current research interests of members of staff. In recent years, optional modules available in the Department have included:

• Akkadian
• Ancient Philosophers on Necessity, Fate and Free Will
• Ancient Philosophers on Origins
• Animals in Graeco-Roman Antiquity
• Forms After Plato
• Greek Text Seminar on Homeric Epic
• Greek Sacred Regulations
• Latin Love Elegy
• Latin Text Seminar on Roman Epic
• Life and Death on Roman Sarcophagi
• Monumental Architecture of the Roman East
• Religious Life in The Roman Near East
• Rewriting Empire: Eusebius of Caesarea and the First Christian History
• The Classical Tradition: Art, Literature, Thought
• The Queen of the Desert: Rise and Decline of Palmyra’s Civilization
• The Roman Republic: Debates and Approaches.

Information for international students

English Language requirements Please check requirements for your subject and level of study.

Fees and funding

Scholarships and funding

https://www.dur.ac.uk/postgraduate/finance/funding/

Qualification and course duration

MA

Course contact details