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Classics
Department Chair: Edwin D. Floyd
Main Office: 1518 Cathedral of Learning
(412) 624-4493 (phone) (412) 624-4419 (fax)
http://www.pitt.edu/~classics/

Primary Faculty: Professors AVERY, GILL, JONES, MILLER (Graduate Advisor), SMETHURST, STAHL (Andrew Mellon Professor); Associate Professors FLOYD (Chair; Director of Graduate Studies), POSSANZA, WEIS (Joint, History of Art and Architecture)

Affiliated Faculty (Adjunct faculty and those with primary appointments in other areas): Professor LENNOX (History and Philosophy of Science; Director, Center for Philosophy of Science); Associate Professors BOWEN (Adjunct), LOONEY (Chair, French and Italian Languages and Literatures)

Admission to Graduate Studies
The Department of Classics is concerned with the interpretation of the culture and society of Greco- Roman antiquity with a focus on the central literary, philosophical and historiographical texts. The research and graduate-level interests of faculty include the Greek and Latin languages and literatures, comparative literature and theater, philosophy and science, history, linguistics, and rhetoric. Prospective graduate students with interest in any of these fields are invited to consider submitting an application to our program.

Students seeking admission must first meet the requirements of FAS Graduate Studies. Their undergraduate preparation should include training in both Latin and Greek, and they should have a general familiarity with the wider experience of Greco-Roman antiquity, especially its literature and history. The Graduate Record Examination is recommended for all applicants and is required for those applying for financial aid.

Upon acceptance of admission, each graduate student should obtain from the departmental office a copy of the Graduate Program in Classics. The minimal requirements for the degrees established by the Graduate Faculty of the University and by FAS Graduate Studies, as described elsewhere in this bulletin, should be read in conjunction with the specific departmental requirements for these degrees in the following sections.

Graduate Student Support
The department attempts to provide financial assistance to students whose performance is at a consistently high level for the five-to-six years that they are in residence as students. The sources of such assistance are the following:

Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowships: These fellowships are awarded to students of exceptional promise and ability either when they first enroll in the PhD program or when they have advanced to the dissertation stage. Stipends for 1999-00 are $14,000, plus a full tuition scholarship. No service is required.

Provost's Humanities Fellowships: A few of these fellowships are awarded to exceptional students who are beginning graduate work in the humanities. Stipends for 1999-00 are $14,000, plus a full tuition scholarship. No service is required.

Robert S. Marshall Fellowships: These fellowships are limited to students of ability and promise in Classics. They carry a stipend plus a tuition scholarship. No service is required.

Lillian B. Lawler Fellowships: Two fellowships of $14,000 (plus tuition for two terms) are awarded annually to full-time, advanced-level graduate students pursuing a PhD in Classics, English, French, German, Hispanic, History, or Slavic who show potential for an outstanding career in teaching and research. No service is required.

Provost's Development Fellowships: These University fellowships are awarded to U.S. citizens on the basis of need and merit to provide development opportunities for women, minorities, and disadvantaged students pursuing the doctorate. They generally carry a stipend and full tuition for two terms. Both incoming and continuing students are eligible to apply.

K. Leroy Irvis Fellowships: These multi-year fellowships are available to distinguished African-American graduate students pursuing the doctorate. They generally carry a stipend and full tuition for two terms. Both incoming and continuing students are eligible for these fellowships.

Teaching Assistantships: For graduate students in good standing, some teaching assistantships are usually available in each of the three terms. The stipends for the Fall and Spring Terms for 1998-99 combined are $10,600. These require half-time service (20 hours a week in teaching, including preparation, office hours, and grading).

Teaching Fellowships: For graduate students of ability and promise who have earned the MA, these fellowships are usually available in each term. The stipends for the Fall and Spring Terms for 1998-99 combined are $11,030. These require half-time service (20 hours a week in teaching, including preparation, office hours, and grading).

Dean's Tuition Scholarships: A limited number of tuition scholarships are available for students who are not funded by teaching assistantships or fellowships. Priority is given to students who have completed all course requirements, are working on the dissertation, have exhausted all departmental support, and need to be minimally registered in order to use University facilities.

A limited number of teaching positions are available during the Summer Term.

Master's Degree Requirements
The Master of Arts in Classics program is primarily designed as an intermediate experience in the student's preparation for the PhD degree. It may also be regarded as a goal in itself by those who do not wish to pursue the PhD degree. The course requirements are a minimum of eight one-term graduate credit courses (24 credits). At least four of these courses must be in the 2000 series, including at least one graduate reading course and two seminars. It should be noted, however, that award of the degree is not dependent on the completion of a set number of courses, but on the achievement of an acceptable level of competence. The foreign language requirement must be met in German. Candidates may elect to write an MA thesis, but it is not required; they must take a comprehensive written examination in three fields chosen in consultation with the department.

Doctoral Degree Requirements
The Doctor of Philosophy in Classics program is primarily designed to train professional scholars and teachers of the classics. Full-time students with a good background in Greek, Latin, and classical studies may complete the program in three years beyond the MA degree but they should recognize that more time may be needed. The requirements for the PhD degree are at least 72 graduate-level credits, 24 of which may also be counted for the MA. At least 12 courses numbered in the 2000 series, covering various specified authors and fields, must be included. All students are required to take part in the department's undergraduate teaching program as preparation for their duties as teachers of Greek, Latin, and classical civilization. The preliminary written examination is identical with the comprehensive written examination for the MA degree in Classics. The PhD foreign language requirement in German and either French or Italian must be met as soon as possible. In preparation for the comprehensive written examination for the PhD degree, candidates are furnished with reading lists appropriate to their chosen authors and fields. The examination is in four parts: (1) special author in Greek, (2) special author in Latin, (3) special genre (in both Greek and Latin), and (4) special field. Upon successful completion of the comprehensive examination and all other requirements, the student, in consultation with a dissertation advisor, presents a dissertation prospectus to a faculty committee and, upon approval of the prospectus, is advanced to candidacy. When the dissertation is finished, a final oral defense completes the doctoral requirements.

Programs
Program in Classics, Philosophy, and Ancient Science: In addition to the MA and PhD programs in Classics, the Department of Classics cooperates with the Departments of Philosophy and History and Philosophy of Science in offering a graduate program in Classics, Philosophy, and Ancient Science. Students pursue the program through one of the three departments and obtain their PhD in their home department, spending one year longer on the degree than those in the three regular PhD programs. Students in the program work closely with one another and with the cooperating faculty, who are drawn from all three departments. The program offers specialized, interdisciplinary training in the methods and skills appropriate to the study of philosophy and science of Greek and Roman culture up to the Middle Ages. In addition to specialized work in ancient philosophy or science, students who pursue the program through the Department of Philosophy or the Department of History and Philosophy of Science receive intensive training in the Greek and Latin languages and learn the skills of classical scholarship through courses in classical literature and history. Students who pursue the program through the Department of Classics concentrate on one of the other two departments, in addition to their own, and are trained in the later history and systematic techniques of that discipline. Through the seminars, colloquies, and conferences sponsored by the program, and through writing a dissertation supervised by an interdepartmental committee, students receive rigorous training that prepares them for teaching positions and research in college or university departments of classics, philosophy, history, or history and philosophy of science. Further information about this program can be obtained by writing to the Director, Program in Classics, Philosophy, and Ancient Science, or upon application to one of the three departments.

Facilities
The department quarters on the 15th floor of the Cathedral of Learning comprise faculty and graduate student offices, a graduate seminar room, and departmental library. Most of the research tools (secondary literature, periodicals, etc.) which graduate students will be using are housed in Hillman Library, but the departmental library, adjoining the graduate seminar room, contains about 2000 volumes, including Greek and Latin texts and standard commentaries, basic reference works, and CD- ROM materials, such as Thesaurus Linguae Graecae and L'Année Philologique.

Research
The current research interests of the departmental faculty, while wide-ranging, concentrate on the major classical authors, with a particular focus on Homer, Pindar, Aeschylus, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Lucretius, Vergil, and Propertius. Among other, more specialized areas of research are Indo-European poetics, the administrative structure of Greek cities, and the relationship of Greek tragedy and Japanese Noh. Authors covered in recent dissertations are Homer, Parmenides, Aeschylus, Pindar, Aristotle, Sallust, and Vergil.

Courses
The following undergraduate courses may be taken for graduate credit. Courses in Greek and Latin may be repeated with the permission of the department when the author and/or work covered changes.

GREEK 1300

GREEK AUTHORS 1

3 CR.

GREEK 1302

GREEK AUTHORS 2

3 CR.

GREEK 1400

GREEK READING: EPIC

3 CR.

GREEK 1402

GREEK READING: TRAGEDY

3 CR.

GREEK 1404

GREEK READING: COMEDY

3 CR.

GREEK 1406

GREEK READING: LYRIC

3 CR.

GREEK 1416

GREEK READING: HISTORIANS

3 CR.

GREEK 1418

GREEK READING: ORATORS

3 CR.

GREEK 1420

GREEK READING: PHILOSOPHERS

3 CR.

GREEK 1440

GREEK READING: POETICS

3 CR.

GREEK 1530

HELLENISTIC LITERATURE

3 CR.

GREEK 1700

GREEK PROSE COMPOSITION

1-3 CR.

 

 

 

LATIN 1030

MEDIEVAL LATIN

3 CR.

LATIN 1300

LATIN AUTHORS 1

3 CR.

LATIN 1302

LATIN AUTHORS 2

3 CR.

LATIN 1400

LATIN READING: EPIC

3 CR.

LATIN 1402

LATIN READING: DRAMA

3 CR.

LATIN 1406

LATIN READING: LYRIC

3 CR.

LATIN 1410

LATIN READING: SATIRE

3 CR.

LATIN 1412

LATIN READING: ELEGY

3 CR.

LATIN 1416

LATIN READING: HISTORIANS

3 CR.

LATIN 1418

LATIN READING: ORATORS

3 CR.

LATIN 1420

LATIN READING: PHILOSOPHERS

3 CR.

LATIN 1422

LATIN READING: EPISTOLOGRAPHY

3 CR.

LATIN 1440

LATIN READING: POETICS

3 CR.

LATIN 1700

LATIN PROSE COMPOSITION

1-3 CR.

 

 

 

CLASS 1210

GREEK HISTORY

3 CR.

CLASS 1220

ROMAN HISTORY

3 CR.

CLASS 1312

PLATO

3 CR.

CLASS 1314

ARISTOTLE

3 CR.

CLASS 1510

GREEK ART

3 CR.

CLASS 1520

ROMAN ART

3 CR.

CLASS 1710

SANSKRIT 1

3 CR.

CLASS 1720

SANSKRIT 2

3 CR.

CLASS 1730

SANSKRIT 3

3 CR.

CLASS 1740

SANSKRIT 4

3 CR.

 

 

 

Graduate reading courses and seminars in Greek and Latin are offered in the Fall and Spring Terms; they may be repeated for credit provided that the author and/or works treated are different. Other 2000 courses are offered from time to time as the need arises.

 

 

 

CLASS 2010

INTRODUCTION TO CLASSICAL STUDIES

1 CR.

CLASS 2040

COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR OF GREEK AND LATIN

3 CR.

CLASS 2090

TOPICS IN CLASSICS

3 CR.

CLASS 2140

ANCIENT POETICS

3 CR.

CLASS 2210

SOCIAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT WORLD

3 CR.

CLASS 2300

STUDIES IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY

3 CR.

CLASS 2310

STUDIES IN PRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY

3 CR.

CLASS 2312

STUDIES IN PLATO

3 CR.

CLASS 2314

STUDIES IN ARISTOTLE

3 CR.

CLASS 2316

STUDIES IN HELLENISTIC PHILOSOPHY

3 CR.

CLASS 2340

ANCIENT MEDICINE

3 CR.

CLASS 2370

STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY

3 CR.

CLASS 2390

TOPICS IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY

3 CR.

CLASS 2902

DIRECTED STUDY FOR MA STUDENTS

1-9 CR.

CLASS 2970

TEACHING OF GREEK

3 CR.

CLASS 2971

TEACHING OF LATIN

3 CR.

CLASS 2972

TEACHING OF CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION

3 CR.

CLASS 2990

INDEPENDENT STUDY

1-9 CR.

CLASS 3000

RESEARCH AND DISSERTATION FOR THE PHD DEGREE

1-9 CR.

CLASS 3902

DIRECTED STUDY FOR PHD STUDENTS

1-9 CR.

 

 

 

GREEK 2100

GREEK READING: EPIC

3 CR.

GREEK 2102

GREEK READING: TRAGEDY

3 CR.

GREEK 2104

GREEK READING: COMEDY

3 CR.

GREEK 2106

GREEK READING: LYRIC

3 CR.

GREEK 2116

GREEK READING: HISTORIANS

3 CR.

GREEK 2118

GREEK READING: ORATORS

3 CR.

GREEK 2120

GREEK READING: PHILOSOPHERS

3 CR.

GREEK 2140

GREEK READING: POETICS

3 CR.

GREEK 2150

HISTORY OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE

3 CR.

GREEK 2190

TOPICS IN GREEK

3 CR.

GREEK 2200

GREEK SEMINAR: EPIC

3 CR.

GREEK 2202

GREEK SEMINAR: TRAGEDY

3 CR.

GREEK 2204

GREEK SEMINAR: COMEDY

3 CR.

GREEK 2206

GREEK SEMINAR: LYRIC

3 CR.

GREEK 2208

GREEK SEMINAR: PASTORAL

3 CR.

GREEK 2214

GREEK SEMINAR: NOVEL

3 CR.

GREEK 2216

GREEK SEMINAR: HISTORIANS

3 CR.

GREEK 2218

GREEK SEMINAR: ORATORS

3 CR.

GREEK 2220

GREEK SEMINAR: PHILOSOPHERS

3 CR.

GREEK 2230

GREEK SEMINAR: SPECIAL TOPICS

3 CR.

GREEK 2240

GREEK SEMINAR: POETICS

3 CR.

GREEK 2318

ARISTOTLE'S MATTER THEORY

3 CR.

GREEK 2990

INDEPENDENT STUDY

1-9 CR.

GREEK 2992

PHD READING EXAMINATION

0 CR.

 

 

 

LATIN 2100

LATIN READING: EPIC

3 CR.

LATIN 2102

LATIN READING: DRAMA

3 CR.

LATIN 2106

LATIN READING: LYRIC

3 CR.

LATIN 2110

LATIN READING: SATIRE

3 CR.

LATIN 2112

LATIN READING: ELEGY

3 CR.

LATIN 2116

LATIN READING: HISTORIANS

3 CR.

LATIN 2118

LATIN READING: ORATORS

3 CR.

LATIN 2120

LATIN READING: PHILOSOPHERS

3 CR.

LATIN 2122

LATIN READING: EPISTOLOGRAPHY

3 CR.

LATIN 2140

LATIN READING: POETICS

3 CR.

LATIN 2150

HISTORY OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE

3 CR.

LATIN 2190

TOPICS IN LATIN

3 CR.

LATIN 2200

LATIN SEMINAR: EPIC

3 CR.

LATIN 2202

LATIN SEMINAR: DRAMA

3 CR.

LATIN 2206

LATIN SEMINAR: LYRIC

3 CR.

LATIN 2208

LATIN SEMINAR: PASTORAL

3 CR.

LATIN 2210

LATIN SEMINAR: SATIRE

3 CR.

LATIN 2212

LATIN SEMINAR: ELEGY

3 CR.

LATIN 2214

LATIN SEMINAR: NOVEL

3 CR.

LATIN 2216

LATIN SEMINAR: HISTORIANS

3 CR.

LATIN 2218

LATIN SEMINAR: ORATORS

3 CR.

LATIN 2220

LATIN SEMINAR: PHILOSOPHERS

3 CR.

LATIN 2222

LATIN SEMINAR: EPISTOLOGRAPHY

3 CR.

LATIN 2230

LATIN SEMINAR: SPECIAL TOPICS

3 CR.

LATIN 2240

LATIN SEMINAR: POETICS

3 CR.

LATIN 2300

LATIN PALAEOGRAPHY

3 CR.

LATIN 2540

EARLY MEDIEVAL LATIN AND LITERATURE

3 CR.

LATIN 2990

INDEPENDENT STUDY

3 CR.

LATIN 2992

GRADUATE READING EXAMINATION

0 CR.

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