Classics

Master of Arts
Doctor of Philosophy

For More Information

Campus address: Waggener Hall (WAG) 123, phone (512) 471-5742, fax (512) 471-4111; campus mail code: C3400

Mailing address: The University of Texas at Austin, Graduate Program, Department of Classics,
2210 Speedway C3400, Austin TX 78712

E-mail: classics@austin.utexas.edu

URL: liberalarts.utexas.edu/classics/

Facilities for Graduate Work

The Classics Library, located within the department in Waggener Hall and managed by its own staff, houses more than 30,000 volumes spanning all areas of classical studies. Supporting collections and staff members are located in the Perry-Castañeda Library, the Architecture and Planning Library, the Fine Arts Library, and other University Libraries units. Holdings of the Harry Ransom Center include a collection of Greek papyri from Egypt and numerous Renaissance editions of classical texts. The Battle Collection of Plaster Casts and a collection of ancient pottery are housed in the Blanton Museum of Art. Graduate students also have access to the Swenson Coin Collection; the Meritt and Reinmuth squeeze collections; a collection of drawings, photographs, and notes on ancient architecture by Lucy Shoe Meritt; and a substantial study collection of material objects from around the ancient Mediterranean, including Egypt and the Near East. Additional resources within the department include a comprehensive photographic archive of prehistoric Aegean and Cypriot inscriptions and related research materials maintained by the Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory; visual media that include more than 15,000 digital images and more than 70,000 slides; a well-equipped computer laboratory linked to major classical databases; and a full-time instructional technology and media staff.

Through the Institute of Classical Archaeology, the department sponsors archaeological fieldwork at Metaponto in southern Italy and at Chersonesus on the Black Sea. The Institute for the Study of Antiquity and Christian Origins conducts fieldwork at Ostia in Italy. 

Areas of Study

Classics is an interdisciplinary field embracing all areas of classical antiquity: language, history, literature, material culture, philosophy, religion, and so on. Within this broad area, the only limitation on programs of study is the availability of specialists to direct a student’s work. The department offers a special concentration in classical archaeology, and the Departments of Classics and Philosophy offer a cooperative doctoral program in ancient philosophy. The faculty also maintains close links with the Departments of Art and Art History, English, French and Italian, History, and Religious Studies, and with the comparative literature program. A cooperative arrangement with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University makes courses in nautical archaeology and ancient seafaring available for UT Austin credit.

Graduate Studies Committee

The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee in the spring 2019 semester.

Deborah Beck Pramit Chaudhuri Lesley A Dean-Jones Jennifer V Ebbeler Steven J Friesen Karl Galinsky Robert J Hankinson Thomas K Hubbard Ayelet Haimson Lushkov William R Nethercut

Thomas G Palaima Paula J Perlman Adam Thomas Rabinowitz Andrew M Riggsby Rabun M Taylor Denton Walthall L M White Stephen A White Paul B Woodruff