classics.cornell.eduDepartment of Classics | Department of Classics Cornell Arts & Sciences

Department of Classics | Department of Classics Cornell Arts & Sciences -- arrow grid linear view icon Jump to main navigation Jump to main content The College of Arts Sciences Site Search Search -- Academics Undergraduate Program Classics Major: requirements Honors Study in Classics Ph.D. Program Current Graduate Students Graduate Alumni Graduate Concentrations Courses Past Courses Faculty Research Faculty Books Archaeology Projects Archaeological Exploration of Sardis Cornell Halai and East Lokris Project Kalavasos and Maroni Built Environments Project Project ArAGATS Digital Projects CWKB Coin Collection Gem Collection Plaster Cast Collection Squeeze Collection Cornell Studies in Classical Philology Townsend Lectures About Us Department Contacts Statement on Diversity and Inclusion Department of Classics New and highlighted Classics courses for Fall 2020 ‘Dramatic’ plaster casts installed in the Groos Atrium of Klarman Hall Classics professor studies ancient scientific and technical texts Exposing new audiences to a real Greek tragedy Apply to Our PhD Program Prev Next News -- Support Arts & Sciences students on Giving Day March 12 The College of Arts & Sciences is gearing up for Giving Day on Thursday, March 12 and we hope you'll join in the fun! -- Classics PhD Students Present at Inaugural "Our Voices" Conference View all news Events MAR 02 Ancient Philosophy Lecture Professor Dimitri El Murr (École Normale Supérieure) will give a talk entitled “Platonic Zoology” MAR 06 Nicholas D. Cahill: Recent Discoveries at Sardis Nicholas D. Cahill (Professor of Art History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) will give a talk entitled "Recent Discoveries at Sardis: from the Bronze Age until the End of Antiquity.... MAR 10 Chats in the Stacks: Caitlín Barrett on Domesticatin... Many private gardens in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii were decorated with statues, paintings, and mosaics evoking far-away Egypt, which was part of the Roman empire at the time. These foreign... View all events Pick a Destination Classics Major Classics Courses Classics Faculty Undergraduate Program M.A. Program Ph.D. Program Classics is about learning Latin and Greek Neither language is spoken today, but hundreds of world-historical masterpieces were written in those two languages. Ancient Greek is the key that unlocks Homer, philosophy, tragedy, comedy, history, particle physics, and half the Bible. Latin is the key that unlocks epic poetry, stage drama, fables, rhetoric, law, and the reawakening of the West in the Renaissance. The two languages together allow you to observe, like a firsthand witness, the downhill slide of Rome’s thousand-year civilization from an American-style democracy to an authoritarian empire. Studying them, and the voices of the women and men who spoke them, reveals more than just the mindset of a people that built the Coliseum and the catacombs. Those voices also reveal the foundations of the modern world order—from secular humanism to religious orthodoxy. They’re also a lot of fun! — Jeffrey S Rusten, Professor I've never felt that classical Athens was a place to look back to for parallels, but the reverse – its writings, theater, politics and society compel me forward to test them against those of the other times and places, and especially today. Classics beyond the classroom Classics doesn’t just involve learning your Latin principal parts (important though they are!). Our students and faculty engage with the Greco-Roman world in multiple ways, whether speaking “living Latin” in Rome, taking part in archaeological digs or traveling seminars to Europe, curating exhibitions, or putting on performances of ancient plays. From experiments with ancient technology to the use of myth in contemporary art, we celebrate and explore the enduring relevance and reinvention of the Classical past within the 21st century. Become a Classics Major Apply to A&S ​ ​ See the Campus Visit A&S ​ ​ Support the Department Give to Classics ​ The College of Arts & Sciences Academics Faculty Research About Us Facebook 120 Goldwin Smith Hall Ithaca, New York 14853 607-255-7471 • Email the Department of Classics ©2020 Cornell University If you have a disability and are having trouble accessing information on this website or need materials in an alternate format contact web-accessibility@cornell.edu for assistance....