Department of Classics

Department Chair

Contact Information

More Information

With one foot planted in the past and the other in the present, scholars in USC College’s classics department gain a unique understanding of where our society came from and where it might be headed. The themes and stories from classical scholarship find new life in every generation.

The College has attracted award-winning faculty and scholars in classics, a department that encompasses Greek and Latin language, history and culture. Professors bring knowledge from philosophy, visual culture, feminist theory, religion, archaeology and other literary traditions. This multidisciplinary approach to scholarship encourages students to think about classics on a broad level, developing sharper insights of how classics from the past relate to the present world.

The graduate program combines a focus on language and culture with work in critical theory, literary theory from Bakhtin to Volosinov, psychoanalytic theory, anthropology, feminism, cultural studies and postcolonial theory.

Undergraduate students specialize in one of four tracks: civilization and society; literature and mythology; Greek language, literature and culture; or Latin language, literature and culture. Students complete a language requirement in Latin or Greek, and study texts that have been central to Western scholarship for thousands of years. To supplement classroom instruction, students are encouraged to spend a semester studying in Athens or Rome.

Undergraduate degrees and programs

Graduate degrees and programs