Classics and Ancient Civilisations (research)

Degree: Master of Arts in Classics and Ancient Civilisations (research)
Mode of Study: Full-time
Duration: 2 years
Start date: September, February
Language of instruction: English
Location: Leiden
Croho/isat code: 60039
Specialisations:
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The Research Master’s programme in Classics and Ancient (Near Eastern) Civilisations provides intensive and comprehensive training covering the entire range of present-day research on the civilisations of Greece and Rome and the Ancient Near East.

The Leiden programme distinguishes itself from other similar master’s programmes by consistently integrating the world of the Hebrew Bible, emerging Christianity, the cuneiform cultures of Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt (ancient, antique and late-antique) and Greco-Roman Antiquity within their broader context. The amount of specialisations available is also unparalleled.

As a graduate of a two-year research master’s degree you are qualified to work as a junior academic researcher in an academic environment or carry out further research work on a PhD programme.

With effect from September 2012, the name of this programme will change to Classics and Ancient Civilisations.

The programme makes creative use of a plethora of methods, all of them well-represented at Leiden University. Traditional philology with its intimate knowledge of languages and texts, while still indispensable, is enriched by social history and political theory, comparative literature, the study of religion in an anthropological perspective and archaeology and material culture.

Prof. Joan Booth

Joan Booth

“It extends the connection-making process beyond Greece and Rome to the ancient civilizations of the Near-East.”

“Classics, and especially the specialisation Classics within the Research Master Classics and Ancient Near Eastern Civilisations, is about making connections – between Greek and Latin, language and culture, text and image, source and reception, ancient and modern ways of thinking, speaking, believing and behaving.

Almost uniquely within a single programme, the Classics programme offers the opportunity of extending the connection-making process beyond classical Greece and Rome to the ancient civilizations of the Near-East.

The intersection and interaction of East and West around the Ancient Mediterranean and its hinterlands in a particular historical period is the focus one of the common courses (Cultural Contact in the Hellenistic World), while the similarities and divergences in the scholarly approach to the texts of each culture lie at the heart of another (The Commentary). The prospect is an exciting symbiosis of specialised perspective and bigger picture.”