MA Program

Department of Classics

The Master of Arts in Classics emphasizes a holistic approach to the Greek and Roman worlds and encourages all students to study languages, literature, history, and material culture. Students continue to work on their Greek and Latin in order to ensure they can access the wealth of literary and documentary sources which have survived and still continue to surface. The program also assigns prominence to historical context and material culture, especially promoting active archaeological research and travel to the Mediterranean. The program is structured on the principle that these diverse approaches inform one another and produce a cross-disciplinary, well-rounded and thus broader understanding of the world and legacy of the Greeks and Romans.

Below you can find information on the following topics:

Program Requirements
New! Fields in 'Art and Archaeology' and 'Text and Culture'
Facilities
Overseas Opportunities
Financial Assistance
Application Procedures

Program Requirements

The Department offers a two-year MA program in Classics. Students may complete the general program but also have the opportunity to specialize in two streams: Art and Archaeology, or Text and Culture.

a) General program
There are two schemes for the MA degree: (1) with major research paper, and (2) with thesis. Students who qualify for funding receive five terms of funding for scheme 1 and six terms of funding for scheme 2. 

Students wishing to do scheme 2 must provide the Graduate Program Director with a recent transcript and a statement (no more than one page) that includes a description of the topic, the name of the desired supervisor and the reason for the request. This statement is due in mid-April at the end of the first year of study and a final decision will be made in consultation with the Graduate Committee (currently all permanent faculty) and potential supervisor.

Scheme 1. Requirements for the MA with major research paper:
Nine half-credit courses (one-term courses) offered by the Department. Additional advanced undergraduate Greek or Latin courses may be recommended to address deficiencies in the languages. Required courses include:

1. CLAS 5P00 Classics Pro-seminar, during the student’s first year

2. three courses designated GREE 5(alpha)00 or above and LATI 5(alpha)00 or above (at least one in each language)
3. five other courses designated CLAS 5V10-5V79, CLAS 5P80, GREE 5(alpha)00 or above or LATI 5(alpha)00 or above.

Demonstrate competence in a modern language, normally French or German. This requirement should be done by the end of the first year.

Pass sight translation exams in Latin and Greek by the time of graduation.

Complete a satisfactory research paper, normally 40-50 pages in length, on an approved topic, written in the second year of study under the guidance of a supervisor.

Scheme 2. Requirements for the MA with thesis: 
Seven half-credit courses (one-term courses) offered by the Department. Additional advanced undergraduate Greek or Latin courses may be recommended to address deficiencies in the languages. Required courses include:

1. CLAS 5P00 Classics Pro-seminar during the student’s first year.
2. three courses with the designation GREE 5(alpha)00 or above and LATI 5(alpha)00 or above (at least one in each language)
3. three other courses designated CLAS 5V10-5V79, CLAS 5P80 GREE 5(alpha)00 or above or LATI 5(alpha)00 or above.

Demonstrate competence in a modern language, normally French or German. This requirement should be completed by the end of the first year.

Pass sight translation exams in Latin and Greek by the time of graduation.

Complete a satisfactory thesis on an approved topic, normally 80-100 pages in length, written in the second year of study under the guidance of a supervisor and Supervisory Committee.

Pass an oral examination to defend the thesis.

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b) Fields in 'Art and Archaeology' and 'Text and Culture'
Students have the option of two schemes: (1) with major research paper, and (2) with thesis. Students following the major research paper option complete CLAS 5P00, a major research paper and 4.0 credits from CLAS 5V10-5V79, CLAS 5P80, GREE 5(alpha)00 or above, LATI 5(alpha)00 or above. Students following the thesis option complete CLAS 5P00, a thesis and 3.0 credits from CLAS 5V10-5V79, CLAS 5P80, GREE 5(alpha)00 or above, LATI 5(alpha)00 or above. The specifics of the fields are as follows:

Art and Archaeology
The Art and Archaeology stream provides an opportunity for students to specialize in the visual and material culture of the ancient world. Faculty strengths cover chronological periods from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity, alongside intellectual interests in topics ranging from mortuary archaeology to maritime interconnectivity, from villa landscapes to imperial architecture, from Greek vases to Roman dolls, and more. Recent research in the field and museum has taken faculty and students to Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, and Turkey; these projects, along with our archaeology laboratory and Cypriote Museum, provide a variety of hands-on learning experiences for students. The Art and Archaeology stream allows a focus on the role of objects and artifacts as key contributors to the broad understanding of antiquity.

Text and Culture
The Text and Culture stream provides an opportunity for students to specialize in the literary and historical cultures of the Greco-Roman world. Faculty strengths cover chronological periods from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity, alongside intellectual interests in a wide range of cultural topics. Historical fields of research include maritime trade and economy, ancient spectacle and sport, gender and sexuality, religion, domestic and military history. In literary studies, faculty specialize in epic and elegy, rhetoric and historiography, and the reception of Classical texts beyond antiquity. The Text and Culture stream allows students to focus on literary and historical documents in their socio-cultural contexts, theoretical approaches to interpretation, alternative texts (such as inscriptions on stone and ceramics, papyri and numismatics) and innovative combinations of literary, historical, and material culture. 

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Facilities
The Department of Classics has a small collection of over 170 Cypriote artifacts housed in its Cypriote Museum. This study collection is intended to promote student familiarity with the protocols of handling such objects and with publication methodology. The department has a new, spacious archaeology lab where students can work with faculty on archaeological projects, with an adjacent storage room for the Cypriote collection. The current exhibit of our Cypriote collection has been curated by Lana Radloff who completed her MA at Brock in 2011 on the utility of decontextualized antiquities. The previous exhibit was curated by Helen Taylor (MA in Classics, 2009), a recent Brock graduate student, and Amanda Angelone, a senior undergraduate (BA in Classics, 2011), under the direction of Dr. Katharine von Stackelberg, with assistance from Dr. Barbara Burrell. 

The department also owns a slide and image collection, which is in the process of being digitized and stored in a database program. For on-line resources, see www.brocku.ca/library/research-lib/humanities/classics.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Innovation Trust have provided funds for the purchase of equipment intended for use on archaeological projects, including a Lexica TCR750 reflectorless total station and a Trimble Geoexplorer CE XT Global Positioning System.

The Department of Classics is an institutional member of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and the Canadian Institute in Greece. Faculty regularly conduct research under the auspices of these institutions, as well as at the British School in Rome and the American Academy in Rome.

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Overseas Opportunities

The Department regularly offers overseas courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, including the archaeological field school and study tours to Greece, Italy, and Turkey. Graduate students who have not previously excavated or participated in a study tour can enroll in these courses, and those that have may qualify for teaching assistant positions for these. In recent years, courses in advanced archaeological research have been offered in Greece and Turkey.

Faculty members conducting research overseas frequently take students to assist them. Prof. Angus Smith has worked with Brock students on Bronze Age sites in Crete and the Peloponnese. Prof. Elizabeth Greene has taken students to work on shipwreck sites off the coast of Turkey and to study artifacts in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology. Graduate students have assisted Prof. Barbara Burrell with the publication of finds from the Promontory Palace Excavations at Caesarea Maritima in Israel; Prof. Burrell recently led the Brock Archaeological Practicum in Stabiae, Italy. Some financial assistance for overseas projects is available.

Upon completion of coursework, students have the opportunity to spend a semester in Athens through an internship program with the Canadian Institute in Greece.

Financial Assistance

The University provides the best candidates with packages that include fellowships and teaching assistant positions. Dean of Graduate Studies Entrance Scholarships and Dean of Graduate Studies Excellence Scholarships are also available for excellent students.

The department has teaching assistantships in undergraduate courses in first-year Greek and Latin, Greek mythology; Greek and Roman civilization; Greek and Roman history; ancient sport; introductory and classical archaeology; Near Eastern and Egyptian, Greek and Roman art; and Greek sanctuaries. These are an integral part of the graduate student experience, providing valuable experience in the classroom.

There also may be positions to assist in the management of the slide collection and departmental website, and to assist faculty with their research. For further financial and fee information see: http://www.brocku.ca/gradstudies/current/financial.php

Application Procedures

Applicants should have a BA Honours, or equivalent degree in Classics, with a minimum overall average of B (second class), a minimum average of 75% (B) in Classics courses and with at least two years in Greek and two years in Latin at the university level. Applicants must supply three letters of reference; a statement of intent including research interests and goals of not more than two pages in length; a representative piece of written work of not more than 20 pages; and transcripts of all post-secondary course-work. Applicants must also complete the Graduate Studies on-line application form, available at:

https://experience.brocku.ca/Graduate_Study/admissions.ezc

Admission is not guaranteed by the attainment of the minimum of either university or graduate program admission requirements. Admission is a competitive process. For more information, contact the Graduate Program Director, Dr. Angus Smith (rsmith@brocku.ca).

For additional information regarding Graduate Studies at Brock, visit:

http://www.brocku.ca/gradstudies/

and

https://experience.brocku.ca/Graduate_Study/GradStudies.ezc