Research course

Classics and Ancient History

Institution
Newcastle University · School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Qualifications
MPhilPhD

Entry requirements

A minimum of a 2:1 honours degree and a Master's degree at Merit level, or international equivalent, in a related subject. We will give specific consideration to any independent research you do as part of your studies and/or appropriate professional experience.

You must submit two letters of recommendation (obligatory) and a writing sample, such as a chapter from an MA dissertation or a published paper (optional).

Months of entry

January, July

Course content

Our programmes cover a range of classical subjects. They include material culture and history, language and literature, philosophy and the history of science and medicine. We have strong links with related disciplines such as history, archaeology and modern languages. We welcome postgraduates in any of our areas of research expertise.

Classics and Ancient History at Newcastle has a long and distinguished international reputation. We deliver quality research and teaching. We have taught Latin and Greek since 1874. We have taught Ancient History since 1910 and Classical Archaeology since 1931.

Our staff include scholars of outstanding international reputation. Our research covers all major aspects of the study of the ancient world.

MPhil and PhD supervision is usually available in:
Ancient history and classical archaeology
Archaeology of religion and ritual from the Bronze Age to the early Classical era
Greco–Roman religion
Greek ethnography
Late Classical and Hellenistic periods: Alexander the Great and Hellenistic empires; kingship and royal ideology
Contact and interaction between Greeks and non-Greeks
The history and archaeology of pre-Roman and Roman Italy
The late Roman Republic
Institutions of the Roman world
The social, economic and cultural history of the Roman Empire
Roman Greece
Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt
The era of the tetrarchy and Constantine
Pagan-Christian relations
Late Roman/early mediaeval legal history
Slavery in the ancient world
Greek art and archaeology
Classical language and literature
Greek poetry from Homer to the imperial age
‘Presocratic’ and ‘Hippocratic’ writers
Greek tragedy, including its reception
Ancient didactic poetry
Second Sophistic
Ancient linguistic thought, especially etymology
Greek influence on later literature
Greek and Roman music, including harmonic theory; instruments and their place in the development of Greek musical science; music and Graeco-Roman society; the representation of musical instruments.
Greek and Roman oratory and rhetoric
Cicero: rhetoric, philosophy, politics
Latin poetry
Literature and religion in Latin epic
Time in ancient literature
Flavian literature and culture
Ancient historiography
History of Classical Scholarship
Reception of the ancient world
Philosophy and science
Ancient philosophy, particularly epistemology and ethics,
The exact sciences in Greek and Roman antiquity
The history of Greek and Roman medicine
Hippocratic medicine and the history of its reception up until the 20th century
You can find a detailed list of classics research areas on our website.
There is a lively research culture in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology. We have a seminar programme with contributions from:
academic staff
postgraduate students
distinguished visiting speakers
You will have the opportunity to get involved in our student-led Postgraduate Forum. Their activities include publishing an online peer-reviewed journal and organising bi-monthly seminars. At the seminars, students deliver papers to their peers and academic staff. There is also an annual postgraduate conference. Here you can present your research to other regional and national postgraduates and academics.

Information for international students

Direct Entry: IELTS 6.5 overall (with a minimum of 6.5 in writing, and 5.5 in all other sub-skills).

Fees and funding

See our programme fees and funding web page.

Qualification, course duration and attendance options

  • MPhil
    part time
    24 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
    full time
    12 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
  • PhD
    part time
    72 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
    full time
    36 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification

Course contact details

Name
Dr Federico Santangelo, Degree Programme Director
Email
pg.historical@ncl.ac.uk
Phone
+44 (0) 191 208 7978