Classics or ClassCiv courses

What do all the course titles mean? Helpful tips for further study of Classical subjects.

 Are you interested in studying Classics at university but have no idea which course you should choose? That is completely fair. Today I'm going to be looking at the differences between the classical subjects that you can study at university.

I'm focusing specifically on UK universities here rather than colleges abroad, but if you're looking to study at a UK university, this is the blog for you.

What do they all mean?

It can be really confusing deciding which course to look at because they all have very different names. We're going to have a look at what each of these entails and what you might need to get onto these courses.

1. Classics

Classics is sort of the umbrella term that people use to discuss the ancient world. However, that is not what a university means when they say they are offering a Classics course.

Classics specifically is about the languages, Latin and Ancient Greek.

You will need both of these, or at least you'll need one of them, or be willing to start them both from scratch, which is quite a big job.

I would suggest that you have at least one of them, to A level if possible, or have been on courses beforehand to get you up to standard. A university might take that if you get in touch with them and say you've put yourself through a course.

However, be prepared that it is a lot of work to start ab initio from the beginning like I did with Greek. It was really enjoyable, but it is a big task.

Text based investigations

Often you are studying a passage with your lecturers to really find the detailed meaning of the text. You're given a passage and you have to talk about the language and stylistic devices, and the choices the author has made.

These will be in the original, so you're looking at nuances of the language themselves.

You will also have language sessions where you learn more about the language, so don't worry about that, you're not just expected to keep all that knowledge in your head from A level!

Optional modules

It is mainly based on Latin and Greek that makes up most of your degree, but you will also have some optional modules. I did Classics (Latin and Greek) and each semester I had one optional module.

I filled it with all sorts of other modules from the other courses I'm going to discuss in this post, but you can also go outside your Faculty or School. You can take modern languages or history courses or really anything.

Universities are usually willing to let you have a go at something kind of outside the box. So do ask the question if that's something you find interesting.

2. Classical Civilisation

I've seen this less and less recently. I know that Durham still do Classical Civilisation, but I haven't seen it as much as it used to be.

In translation

In this course you do not need Latin or Greek. You can start them, or you can carry on with them if you wish to, but you don't need them. Any text that you study will be in translation.

Day to day life

You look at how people lived, how society worked, what sort of myths they believed in, what literature they wrote.

It’s specifically about the civilisation, the people, of the classical world.

3. Classical Studies

Then there's Classical Studies. This is very similar to classical civilisation as far as I am aware.

Also in translation

Again, you don't need the languages. You don't need Latin, you don't need Greek. You can start them from scratch, you can carry them on, or you can ignore them completely. It’s up to you.

Literature focus

This one is much more focused on literature, but it is again in translation, so you won't have to study it in the original Latin or Greek. You'll be reading the Aeneid or the Odyssey or philosophy, but in English.

Physical focus

This course can also have more to do with architecture than the Civilisation course, and art and sculpture, but it also often covers philosophy and medicine: looking at what the ancients thought about themselves.

4. Ancient History

Ancient history is, as the name suggests, historical events.

Because it is focused in the ancient world, there are a lot of military campaigns! It's not only about military campaigns, but there were a lot of military campaigns in ancient history, so a good amount of what we need to know about the ancient world comes from battles and who won which wars.

International stories

It's also focused on ancient international relations. By that I mean it looks at who has the power, and where is the power at different points in history.

It's also looking at rulers and how they get to grips with the world that they live in. You might do a deep dive into the emperors of the Tetrarchy, or the kings of Sparta, or the 30 Tyrants of Athens. Their rises to power, their rules, and their downfalls.

So ancient history is really interesting, and a lot of my optional modules were in ancient history.

5. Archaeology

And then there is archaeology.

Fabulous finds?

Most people think archaeology is all about artefacts, and you are right in that yes you will be looking at artefacts. But also it's about the interpretation of those artefacts.

So when you find a shard of pottery, what is it? And how can we tell? And where was it found? And does that tell us anything? What was it near? Who might have used it, and for what? And all these fabulous questions that link together to give a picture of life.

It's not specifically just finding a coin every few minutes and saying, “ah, wonderful, another gold aureus of Augustus. Add it to the pile”. It isn’t even necessarily the items themselves, but where they were found that is interesting in archaeology.

Theory first

Getting onto that, we have digs and excavations. This is what most people think their course will be when they apply for archaeology. However, for the first couple of years you're mostly going to be looking at the theory of archaeology.

You might have some field trips where you go and either get a chance to do a little bit of archaeology or watch archaeologists at work, but to begin with you're going to be looking at how excavations have been conducted over the years, what good (and bad) practice is, and how you should measure and record your findings.

Get your hands dirty

I have to say if you don't like digging, archaeology is probably not the one for you.

That was what swayed me. I loved the idea of being an archaeologist and finding all these amazing artefacts and being in the newspaper. Then realised how much digging and difficult conditions are actually involved. Looking back, I think I would have hugely enjoyed it, and it is something I would love to study in the future, but at 18 I did not feel like that was the path for me.

If you're up for a bit of hard work, archaeology is a fantastic course.

Just be aware, you will not be finding hordes every day. The majority of archaeologists don't find gold and don't find mosaics. They find little things, they find things of significance, but not necessarily of great media value.

But all of these things piece together to form our interpretation of the ancient world. So it is a really interesting course to go on.

Other possibilities

Now there are also other courses than the ones I have just mentioned.

1. History of Art

   This is specifically about architecture and art, and it goes from the ancient world all the way up to the Renaissance and beyond.

2. Anthropology

   This is the study of people and how people have shaped history.

3. Egyptology

   This is not actually a part of Classics, although it should be because I think it's fascinating. I wish I'd been able to study more of it at university! Egyptology is the study of Egyptian culture. So the pharaohs, the pyramids, the temples, the worship of Egypt.

4. Comparative Literature

   I've put this in because some universities offer Classics with Comparative Literature, or Archaeology with Comparative Literature. It's kind of classical in its roots, but it's not often ancient texts. It's looking at similarities and differences of lots of literature types from across history and civilisations and societies. So sort of a Classical subject in a way!

So now what?

With all these names, it can still be very confusing deciding on the right course for you.

Take your time, look through what the course requirements are, and look at some of the modules that people have studied previously. Look on the university websites, look at what modules and pathways they have to offer, and don't necessarily focus on the name.

Focus on what it is you have the opportunity to study in your three or four years at that university. That's far more important than the name of the degree that you'll be getting. You need to find things that will enthral and fascinate you.

That’s my best piece of advice:

Find the course that sounds most interesting to you

You’ll be the one studying it. Pick something you want to get out of bed for, not what sounds fanciest.

I hope this has been helpful! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about studying Classics at a UK university. I'll do my best to help answer your question!

Thanks so much for joining me, and I'll see you next time on bambasbat.