Classics

View of ancient city

M.A. in

Mediterranean Archaeology

The M.A. program in Anthropology with a concentration in Mediterranean Archaeology is designed to provide students with a sound basic training in Anthropology, the Archaeology and History of the Ancient Mediterranean and, if needed, Classical languages so that they can successfully apply to a PhD program in Mediterranean Archaeology elsewhere.

This M.A. concentration is offered by the Department of Anthropology in cooperation with Mediterranean archaeologists housed in the Departments of Classics, History, Religious Studies, and the School of Architecture. Students who apply in this area should have completed appropriate undergraduate courses in archaeology or anthropology. An anthropology minor is preferred as a minimum. They should have a GPA of 3.5 in their major and 3.3 overall.

Students intending to continue for a PhD degree in Classical Archaeology elsewhere must have taken at least 5 semesters of Latin or 4 semesters of Greek by the time they enter the M.A. program. They will be required to take two 400-level courses in Latin or Greek as part of their M.A. training.

The application deadline is December 1 for entry in the following Fall semester. Students are required to start the graduate program in the Fall. Please visit The Anthropology Website for more advice regarding admissions into the Anthropology graduate programs.

Please note that applicants to the Mediterranean Archaeology program must have the consent of one of the Mediterranean Archaeology faculty members to serve as their thesis director before they apply to the program.

Participating archaeologists from the Departments of Classics, History, Religious Studies, and the School of Architecture, and their research specialties:

  • Prof. S. Collins-Elliott (Classics)
    Archaeology and history of the Roman Republic; Etruscan archaeology; small finds; computational approaches in archaeology; co-directs archaeological field work in Morocco (Hesperides project).

  • Prof. E. Darby (Religious Studies)
    Iron Age Levant (figurines); biblical studies, Near Eastern studies, ritual studies, gender studies; co-directs excavation at ‘Ayn Gharandal, Jordan

  • Prof. J.P. Dessel (History)
    Archaeology of the Near East (including Cyprus) and Egypt; rise of complex societies, pottery analysis; excavates at Tell Taynat, Turkey

  • Prof. G. Kalas (College of Architecture and Design)
    Archaeology and art history of the Late Roman Empire and the early Middle Ages; field work in the Roman Forum

  • Prof. M.K. Langdon (Classics)
    Archaeology and epigraphy of Classical Greece; field work in Attica

  • Prof. A. Van de Moortel (Classics)
    Aegean Prehistory and nautical archaeology of Antiquity and the Middle Ages; rise and decline of complex societies, pottery analysis; co-directs excavation at Mitrou, Greece; pottery projects at Malia and the Kamares Cave; research project on medieval ships of the Utrecht type (proto-hulks) in the southern North Sea region.
Researchers looking at an ancient quarry

Degree Requirements

24 hours of courses:

  • 13 hours of core courses:
    • Anthropology 510 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology
    • Anthropology 560 Theory in Archaeology
    • Anthropology 590 Method and Theory in Biological Anthropology
    • Anthropology 550 Contemporary Issues in Anthropology (Must be taken every Fall Semester, 1 hour credit)
    • Anthropology 504 Statistics
  • 11 additional hours selected, in consultation with student’s advisor, from courses offered in the Anthropology, History or Classics Departments, including (for those students working on Greece or Rome) 6 hours of classical language work at the 400-level or above
  • 6 thesis hours

In addition to taking courses in their field of study, students are strongly encouraged to acquire a reading knowledge of French and German.

Sample list of available Classics courses (non-language)

  • Undergraduate Courses in Classics that carry Graduate Credit
    • Classics/Anthro 436 Cities and Sanctuaries of the Greek and Roman World
    • Classics 441 Special Topics in Classical Civilization (e.g. Ancient Greek Warfare)
    • Classics/Anthro 442 Intensive Survey of the Archaeology of the Prehistoric Aegean
    • Classics/Anthro 443 Intensive Survey of the Archaeology of Greece
    • Classics/Anthro 444 Intensive Survey of the Archaeology of Etruria and Rome
    • Classics 445 Ancient and Medieval Seafaring
    • Classics 461 Special Topics in Classical Archaeology (e.g., Pottery Analysis; Ancient Greek and Roman Technology)
  • Graduate Classes in Classics
    • Classics/Anthro 562 Special topics in Mediterranean Archaeology.
    • Classics 565 Seminar in Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
    • Classics 591 Foreign Study
    • Classics 593 Independent Study

Sample list of available History courses

  • Undergraduate Courses in History
    • Classics/History 302: History of Greece I
    • History/Classics 303 History of the Roman Republic
    • History/Classics 304 History of the Roman Empire
    • History/Classics 305 History of the Late Roman Empire
    • Classics/History 306: History of Greece II
    • History 366 History and Archaeology of Mesopotamia
    • History 373 Historical Issues: Later Roman Empire
    • History 373 Historical Issues: From Rome to Byzantium
    • History 383 History of Jewish Civilization I
    • History 484 Studies in Jewish History/Biblical Archaeology/Roman and Byzantine synagogues
    • History 486 Studies in the Ancient Near East/Egypt, Anatolia, Cyprus, Persia
  • Graduate Classes in History
    • History 531 Topics in Premodern Europe
    • History 559 Topics in Jewish History
    • History 585 Topics in World History