Graduate Program in Classical Studies
Graduate Group Chair:
Professor Emily Wilson
Department of Classical Studies
201 Cohen Hall, 249 South 36th Street
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304
(215) 898-7425 • email
Graduate Coordinator:
Ernestine Williams
Classical Studies Graduate Group
236 Cohen Hall, 249 South 36th Street
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304
(215) 573-0250 • email
Introduction
Facilities
Admission, Fellowship, and Advanced Standing
Requirements for the Ph.D.
Examinations
Dissertation
Requirements for the M.A.
Reading Lists for the Ph.D. Preliminary Examination
The Graduate Group in Classical Studies trains students in the languages, literatures, and history of the Greek and Roman Classical world. Students are encouraged to combine this work with the investigation of such related fields as Art History and Archaeology, Comparative Literature and Literary Theory, Linguistics, Medieval Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Women's Studies.
Penn offers superb resources for the study of classical antiquity. We have a world-class faculty, who specialize in a wide range of sub-fields within the discipline, and who take seriously the responsibility of training graduate students for the profession. We have a good rate of placement; in recent years, Penn graduate students have found tenure-track jobs in institutions including Swarthmore College, McMaster University, and Williams College, as well as visiting positions and post-docs in institutions including Boston College, Dickinson College, and Colby College; of those who finished the program in the past twenty years, the majority now have got tenured or tenure-track jobs.
We run a weekly colloquium series during the academic year, which features distinguished visiting scholars and departmental faculty; this event is followed by a lively discussion, and preceded by coffee in the Department Lounge. We often host and fund conferences, in collaboration with Penn's Center for Ancient Studies, including the biennial Penn-Leiden Colloquium on Ancient Values.
The University has excellent research library facilities, including Van Pelt Library with its open stacks and Classics Seminar Room, the Henry C. Lea Library of Byzantine and Medieval History, the Rare Book Collection, the Fine Arts Library, and the Museum Library. The Department of Classical Studies has its own small book collection, in which graduate students can read and work. The University Museum houses one of the finest archaeological collections in the country and provides opportunities for students to participate in excavations. Penn also enjoys cooperative relations with the many other colleges and universities in the Philadelphia area, and is an institutional member of the American Academy in Rome, the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
ADMISSION, FELLOWSHIP, AND ADVANCED STANDING
The Graduate Group in Classical Studies is designed primarily to prepare students for the Ph.D., although applicants are occasionally admitted for the M.A., and Ph.D. candidates will earn the M.A. in the course of their studies. Entering students are normally expected to have an undergraduate major in Classics or a related discipline and substantial training in both Greek and Latin. Applicants are also required to submit an example of their academic writing with their applications. A research paper of about 15 pages in length (but of no more than 20) is sufficient to meet this requirement. The GRE General Test is required. Candidates for the Ph.D. are eligible for five-year Benjamin Franklin Fellowships (which include summer support). Students who have already taken courses at the graduate level may petition for transfer credit for up to eight courses. A preliminary decision will be made by the Graduate Group as soon as the student arrives, but the actual award of credit can be made only after satisfactory completion of the first year at Penn.
All applications to the Department of Classical Studies must be submitted online between October 1 and no later than midnight of December 15th. Application fee is $70.00.
For more information, access the electronic application form.
All writing samples should be mailed to:
Ernestine Williams
Classical Studies Graduate Group
236 Cohen Hall, 249 South 36th Street
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304
(215) 573-0250
Course Requirements
Candidates for the Ph.D. are required to take at least 20 courses; they may take more. Among these courses, each student must take:
-- two courses in prose composition, in Greek and Latin
-- one course in ancient linguistics
-- one "problems" course in Greek or Roman history (courses in historical authors or historiography do not fulfill this requirement)
-- one course with a focus on Greek and/or Roman material culture, such as an archaeology or art history course (NB: if the history requirement is filled with a course in Greek history, then the material culture requirement should be filled with a Roman course, and vice versa)
-- the Classical Studies Proseminar, to be taken in the first semester
-- the Classical Studies Prospectus workshop, to be taken in the spring of the third year
-- four advanced survey courses, two in Greek and two in Latin (= Greek 540 and 541, Latin 540 and 541). These courses are, among other things, an opportunity to prepare for the Preliminary Examinations (see further below, under "Examinations")
In addition to these official requirements, we have certain expectations of all graduate students, some of which are outlined below. Students are encouraged to ask the graduate chair or other faculty members if they are unsure about their responsibilities in the program.
Program expectations
Students should take a full and active part in the resources available to them at Penn -- using libraries, meeting and talking to people, and attending lectures, seminars and colloquia -- throughout their time in the program. All graduate students are expected to attend the weekly colloquium in classical studies.
It is expected that students will read widely and carefully in Greek and Latin literature, throughout their time in graduate school, outside the readings assigned in their courses. Course work alone is not enough; students should be in the habit of using their free time to read Greek and Latin texts. The Reading Lists for the Preliminary Examinations (see below) give an indication of the range of reading we expect from students after their first or second year; but they are by no means exhaustive.
We expect that students will take at least six graduate seminars. In normal circumstances, these will be seminars offered within Penn's Classical Studies department. But students may choose to take one or more seminars within other departments, in related fields (as above), or at other universities, if approved by the appropriate faculty and Graduate Chair; thinking creatively about your own program of study is encouraged.
We believe that seminars are the cornerstone of graduate education, and that students' experience of the program is diminished if they take fewer than about six seminars. Seminars allow students from different years to communicate both with faculty and with eachother, to create a productive working dialogue. First-year students learn how to talk in a seminar from listening to their older peers, while more advanced students learn paedagogical and mentoring skills from interacting with their juniors. Seminars provide students' first and most important opportunity to practise many of the skills that will prove essential to them in the profession, when they will have to produce conference papers, lectures, academic books and articles, and classroom presentations. Skills practised in the seminar environment include the ability to communicate in a clear and engaging way with students and colleagues; the ability to present ideas, both through class presentations and through seminar papers; the ability to respond constructively to challenges and alternative perspectives.
These advantages are missed when students spend too much time in the first few years working on their own or with just one faculty member. We therefore advise students to take no more than two independent studies in the course of their program; and we require them to take no more than one independent study in any single semester.
Independent studies are a kind of tutorial in a special subject; students may take up to two (or, in exceptional circumstances, three) in the course of their program, with the approval of the relevant faculty member and the Graduate Chair. They are taught as an overload by faculty. The expectation is that students will have a very clear idea of their proposed topic, including a preliminary bibliography and account of the motivation for the study, before approaching faculty. Sometimes, independent studies allow a student to work closely with a faculty member, to gain a thorough acquaintance with a previously unfamiliar and difficult field of study in which a great deal of guidance is needed. Sometimes, independent studies are more genuinely independent; taking a 999 may allow a student to free up time in his or her schedule, for instance to read the complete works of an author who will play an important role in the student's dissertation. If desired, a student may take an independent study in each of his or her Special Topics, in the fall and spring semesters of the third year (see below). Alternatively, students may prepare for Special Topics without taking an independent study in that area -- for instance, by taking a seminar in a related field, at some point during the program, and doing the remainder of the work on their own.
Incomplete Course Work
Incompletes are occasionally granted at the discretion of the instructor of the course.
By the rules of the School of Arts and Sciences, an incomplete in a course must be replaced by a grade not later than two semesters after the end of that course. This means that incompletes should be cleared by August 1 for courses from the preceding fall, and December 1 for courses from the preceding spring.
If a student has not completed all work necessary for an incomplete to be cleared within these two semesters, the student will be placed on probation in the third semester. For a fall incomplete, then, probation would consist of the fall semester of the following year; for a spring semester incomplete, probation would take place the following spring.
While on probation the student may not schedule nor take any exams. During that semester the student will be closely supervised by her advisor. If by the last day of class the student has not submitted all outstanding work she will be automatically terminated and may not register for classes the following semeste
Teaching Requirement
All candidates for the degree of Ph.D. are required to teach for at least two semesters under the supervision of the Graduate Group. Normally students teach during the second and third years of their program. First-time teachers are required to participate in teaching orientations and workshops offered by the department and the graduate school.
Modern Language Examinations
All candidates for the Ph.D. must pass examinations in German and either French or Italian. Each examination will involve translating one page (approximately 250 words) of scholarly prose in one and a half hours. Use of a dictionary is permitted. Students are urged to attempt these examinations as early in their careers as possible. The examinations will be given in October and March at dates set by the Graduate Chair; in exceptional circumstances, they may be offered at other times. A student who has still not passed by October of the third year will be put on probation and required to meet regularly with her advisor until the time of the March exams. Failure to pass the exams at this time may constitute grounds for dismissal from the program.
The Qualifications Evaluation Examination
The Qualifications Evaluation Examination is given at the end of the year, normally in May. First and second year students must take the Qualifications evaluation Exam. If a first year student passes one or both of the languages, they do not need to take the exam again in the following year (although, they will, or course, still participate in the Greek and Latin survey classes – which provide insights into literary history as well as linguistic training). Students must pass the exams by the end of the second year; failure to do so is grounds for dismissal from the program.
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The exam will consist of two two-hour translation examinations, one in Greek and one in Latin, based largely, but not exclusively, on the Greek and Latin Reading Lists (below). In each examination, the student will be asked to translate 4 passages (two poetry and two prose); there will be an element of choice. Students will be expected to choose at least one passage that is not drawn from the reading list. The proportion of reading list and non-reading-list texts may vary slightly from year to year. There may also be brief questions, pertaining to the passages chosen, on basic matters of language, including dialect, grammar, and scansion.
Our main goal in setting these exams is to test whether students are able to read Latin and Greek with near-complete comprehension.
The Preliminary Examination
The Preliminary Examination is taken during the third year, normally in two parts, as follows:
Part one is taken at the beginning of the third year, normally in September. This phase of the Preliminary Exam is intended to test students on the history of Greek and Latin literature and culture. The Reading List will serve as a general guide to the genres and chronological periods for which students will be responsible, although the exam will not be limited to what is on the Reading List. Students are expected to prepare for the exam primarily by reading Greek and Latin primary texts, as well as up-to-date scholarly work; the Greek and Latin survey courses provide a foundation for this preparation, although students must also work on their own, expanding their knowledge of the field. General "histories" of Greek and Latin literature may be used, but they should not be the main source of information or preparation.
Examiners will assess not only a student's control of factual or historical information, but also their ability to discuss the material they have studied synthetically and creatively. The exam will consist of two parts, a three-hour written and a ninety-minute oral exam. The written exam will include some translation of passages from Greek and Latin, including texts included in the Reading List and other texts that the student may or may not be expected to have seen previously. A student who does not pass part one of the Preliminary exam at the beginning of the third year will be judged not to be making normal progress towards the degree, and may thus be dismissed from the program or may forfeit funding. A student who fails the third-year exam and who is allowed to remain in the program may request to take a new exam in the following January. A second failure will constitute grounds for dismissal from the program.
Part two of the Preliminary Exam will be taken at the end of the third year, normally in May. This part consists of two exams of two hours each on substantial special subjects (normally one from Greek culture, one from Roman culture, but these are determined in consultation with the Graduate Chair); such special subjects may include a historical period, a major author or genre, or any comparable area within the broad field of Classical Studies. Students should try to decide on their Special Topics before the beginning of the third year, ideally in the summer before the semester begins. As described above, one or two independent studies may, but need not, be taken in preparation for these topics. Normally, one of the special subjects is in a field related to the prospective dissertation. At the time of the special topic written exams, students will be asked to submit the complete prospectus for their dissertation. The written exams will be followed by an oral examination, lasting about two hours. The oral examination will include discussion of the two Special Topics, followed by discussion of the dissertation prospectus. At that stage, the committee will decide whether to approve the prospectus or not. After approval of the dissertation prospectus, the student can advance to candidacy, and will work with the Graduate Chair to configure a dissertation committee, consisting of a director and two readers.
Administration of Examinations
The Graduate Chair will ensure that at least three examiners participate in every Ph.D. preliminary oral examination, appointing supplemental examiners as necessary. Examiners are usually chosen by the graduate chair.
Prospectus
By the time of Part Two of the Prelims -- at the end of the third year -- students are expected to submit a completed Prospectus, outlining the topic, structure, goals and methology of their dissertation. While writing the Prospectus, in the spring of third year, all students will participate in a prospectus workshop. If the submitted Prospectus is unsatisfactory, the examiners and Graduate Chair will decide whether the student should revise the Prospectus (within a specified time frame), and re-submit for further discussion; or leave the program.
Students will usually have one primary faculty advisor for the dissertation, as well as two or more secondary advisors, who will be members of the student's "dissertation committee". Students must meet regularly with their advisors, and try to adhere to an appropriate schedule for the completion of their work. While writing the dissertation, students are also strongly encouraged to work with their peers, in the Dissertation Workshop. Regular contact with advisors, and regular participation in the workshop, are important ways that dissertation writers can get essential feedback on their work in progress, and remain part of the intellectual community around them.
The dissertation must be completed by the end of the fifth year. Students who have not completed the dissertation within five years of first registering for dissertation tuition are required to submit a revised dissertation Prospectus and to repeat that portion of the Preliminary Examination that involves defending the proposal before a committee of at least three examiners. The revised Prospectus must include an account of the current state of scholarship on the topic and an up-to-date bibliography.
Dissertation Defense
Candidates for the Ph.D. are required to defend the dissertation formally. This defense will consist of two parts:
(1) The student will give a public, oral presentation of the dissertation for approximately 40 minutes, followed by an open-floor question period. The presentation may focus on a selected portion, but must include an account of the whole. The presentation is chaired by someone not on the dissertation committee, such as the Chair of the Graduate Group in Classical Studies or any other standing faculty member. The presentation may, but need not, be done as a talk within the departmental Thursday colloquium; it may also be a public talk at some other time. In cases where the dissertation defense and colloquium do not overlap, students will be invited and encouraged to present their dissertation research at the colloquium, at some other point of time. Students who finish their dissertations in the summer months may have to defer their defense until early fall.
(2) Immediately following the presentation (“immediately” may mean “the following day”), the committee will confer and then meet with the student. This meeting will address any remaining requirements for the completion and filing of the dissertation. Following the meeting, the committee will determine whether the dissertation has been satisfactorily defended.
The dissertation defense will be scheduled only when the dissertation chair, in consultation with the committee members, has confirmed that the dissertation is close to completion. A draft of the whole dissertation incorporating all suggested revisions must be submitted to the committee at least two weeks before the scheduled defense. The defense must be scheduled at least one month before the SAS deadline for official submission of the dissertation.
“Close to completion” implies the following:
1. All individual chapters, including introduction and conclusion, have been read and commented upon by all committee members; all suggested revisions to each chapter have been acted upon to the satisfaction of all committee members.
2. The final order of chapters has been determined and all chapters, including introduction and conclusion, have been revised accordingly.
3. A complete bibliography of works cited has been compiled.
The M.A. in Classical Studies is normally awarded on completion of the Ph.D. Qualifications Evaluation Examination. In addition, the requirements for the M.A. alone may be met after one year of study. The requirements for the M.A. include satisfactory performance in a total of eight courses, including one in prose composition, one in ancient linguistics, and one in either Greek or Roman history; and a research requirement, to be met either through a research paper written for a course or through the writing of an M.A. thesis. Requirements for the M.A. in either Greek or Latin are the same as above, except that the candidate must take two courses at the 400-level or above in the minor language.
GREEK AND LATIN READING LISTS FOR THE PH.D. QUALIFICATIONS EXAMINATION
These lists are designed to help the candidate prepare for these exams, which will test competence in the Greek and Latin languages and familiarity with their various periods and styles. They are not intended to limit the student's reading to these authors and works, nor do they constitute a course of study adequate to the Ph.D. exam in Greek and Latin literature (although gaining a familiarity with the literary-historical import of the works on these lists forms a necessary component of the preparation for the later exams.)
READING LIST FOR THE PH.D. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION IN GREEK
Aeschylus, Oresteia
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.1-4.211
Aristophanes, Clouds, Frogs
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1, Politics 3, Poetics 1447a-1456a32
Attic Orators, Selections from Antiphon and Isocrates in Jebb's school edition Bacchylides 3, 5, 17
Callimachus, Aetia frr. 1, 2, 67, 75, 112 (Pfeiffer); Iambi 4 (fr. 194 Pf.), 13 (fr. 203 Pf.), Hymn 2 (Apollo); Epigrams 1, 27, 28, (Pf.)
Demosthenes, De corona
Epigrams, Selections in Hopkinson, Hellenistic Anthology
Euripides, Bacchae, Trojan Women, Gorgias, Helen
Herodas, Mimiambos 7
Herodotus, Bk. 1
Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days
Hippocrates, Airs, Waters, Places
Homer, Iliad 1-3, 6, 9, 16-18, 21-24; Odyssey 1, 5, 6, 9-13, 19, 22-24
Homeric Hymns, 2 (Demeter), 3 (Apollo)
Longus, Daphnis and Chloe
Lucian, True History
Lyric Poets, Selections in D. Campbell, Greek Lyric Poetry
Lysias 12
Menander, Dyscolus
Pindar, Olympian 1, Nemean 8, Pythian 1, 8
Plato, Apology, Republic 1, Phaedo, Symposium
Plutarch, Life of Demosthenes and the comparison with Cicero
Polybius, book 6
Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, Antigone
Theocritus, Idylls, 1, 2, 7, 11
Thucydides, Bks. 1.1-23, 2 (entire)
Xenophon, Hellenica 1
READING LIST FOR THE PH.D. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION IN LATIN
Apuleius, Metamorphoses 1, 4.28-6.24
Archaic Latin:
Accius, Armorum iudicium, Brutus, Medea (frr. in Ribbeck)
Cato, De agricultura, preface; Oratio pro Rhodiensibus (frr. in Malcovati)
Livius Andronicus (frr. in Morel-Büchner)
Naevius (frr. in Morel-Büchner)
Ennius, Annales, Bks. 1, 7, 8, and 9 (frr. in Skutsch); Medea (frr. in Jocelyn)
Lucilius 1-55, 482-495, 506-507, 532-534, 541-547, 1252-1258 (frr. in Krenkel)
Pacuvius, Dulorestes, Niptra (frr. in Ribbeck)
Twelve Tables (frr. in Riccobono)
Augustine, Confessiones 8
Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 1
Cicero, Pro Caelio, Philippic 2, Somnium Scipionis, Tusculans 1, letters in Shackleton
Bailey's school edition
Catullus (entire)
Horace, Odes 1-3, Sermones 1
Juvenal, Satires 1, 3, 10
Livy, Preface and Bk. 1
Lucan, Bellum civile 1
Lucretius, Bk. 1 and all proems
Martial, Bk. 1; 3.58; 4.1, 14; 5.1; 6.60, 93; 8.33; 9.3, 59; 10.37; 11.6; 17; 12.18
Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.1-2.400, Ars amatoria 1, Amores 1
Petronius, Cena Trimalchionis chh. 83-90, 110-113
Plautus, Miles Gloriosus
Pliny the Younger, Epp. 1.1, 6, 20; 3.21; 4.13; 5.8; 6.16, 20; 7.9, 17, 20; 8.21, 24; 9.10; 10.31, 32
Propertius, Bk. 1
Rhetoric:
Rhetorica ad Herennium 1.1-4, 3.16-40, 4.11-18
Seneca the Elder, Controversiae 1.pref. and 1.2; Suasoria 3
Quintilian, Inst. Or. proemium and Bk. 10
Sallust, Catilina
Seneca the Younger, Thyestes, De ira, Epp. 5, 47, 76, 77, 90
Suetonius, Iulius
Tacitus, Annales 1, Dialogus
Terence, Adelphoe and all prologues
Tibullus, Bk. 1
Vergil, Bucolics, Aeneid