cadences

I have heard (but can't remember offhand from where) that it would be good to have one referee out of the three who is not a scholar in the field to which you are applying - it shows that you are not lopsided in your abilities but are wholistically intelligent. But that's not a rule, just advice that I heard (from somewhere) - I happily leave it to the others on the forum to confirm or refute this.

This definitely helps! I will put all of these suggestions into my Amazon cart and slowly make my mind up...I have until next summer, so I have a Lot of time to chew on what to blow my (paltry) scholarship allowance on

Thanks for that note, furtivemode. A friend of mine recommended Mastronarde, though (and wrinkled his nose at H&Q while he was at it, haha) - care to share your thoughts on that?

Oy gevalt. That is both impressive and intimidating. Do you think getting a copy of Hansen and Quinn to keep as a reference is a good idea (Cork uses JACT's Reading Greek)? And thanks for the link! Being able to get a concrete sense of what a placement exam is like is really helpful.

Hey Petros, I emailed Cork and just received a reply - according to the director of the summer session, the course "basically covers 1.5 years' tuition" and will "take you up to intermediate level in prose". She is quite confident that I can test out of the prose half of the typical second-year sequence. Thanks for the discussion, btw!

Yes, it is. So, given that UPenn takes 97.5 hours to do a year's worth of Greek over the summer and Cork's curriculum comes to a total of 136 hours (sans final exam), I think that the course is really worth three semesters of Greek. They do say that the whole afternoon is free for personal study, which means a Lot of homework, I think. I suspect that's how they manage to squeeze that much Greek in in such a short period of time. But I don't think four semesters in eight weeks is possible.

Roger that, Petros. Cork says that their intensive Greek course covers "nearly two years of instruction", so I thought taking that to mean three semesters of Greek was erring on the safe side, but apparently not. I appreciate the heads up.

Hi All, Sorry if this seems like a dumb question, but I am looking at my options for summer classical Greek and University College Cork offers an 8-week intensive program that is 20 ECTS, which is about 10 US credits, and so is equivalent to one-and-a-half years of Greek. Since second-year Greek is usually broken up into Intermediate I and II, is it possible to test out of Intermediate I and so enrol in Intermediate II at most colleges/universities, or do they only set whole-year sequence tests such that mid-sequence testing is not possible? Thanks!

There's also the possibility that - for whatever reason - said assistant professor ends up not procuring tenure and leaves halfway through your doctoral studies, or worse, your dissertation. Touch wood, of course, but it is a possibility nonetheless...

Hi george_lit, I have heard before (from others on this forum) that Collins tends to admit students who can read unpointed Hebrew - one member shared about how Collins made him/her/a friend read an unpointed segment of the Hebrew Bible in front of him as part of the interview for the MARc. Although, according to these forum members, Collins does bend the rule for people with exceptional ability in languages. So, it would be a matter of convincing Collins that you would be up to par, Hebrew-wise, when you begin the program, then going out to grab as much Hebrew as you can. Alternatively, you could just apply to the general MAR then switch over to the Second-Temple concentration after your first year. That might be easier! But do take YDS' summer Hebrew class if you go down that route... My advice, for what it's worth

Hey shortstacks51, This is a really late response, but then again, I've not been on the English forum for quite a while now; I might be applying to Fordham for the MA in the coming application season, so I thought I'd ask you about your experience at Fordham so far. How's the MA like? How long does it take to finish the MA, typically? And you mentioned your worries over funding - don't they offer funding to their MA students as well (at least that was the impression I got from their website), or is this atypical? My interest is in the Renaissance, especially Renaissance poetics, if that helps your response to my questions in any way Thanks!

Baylor's got my vote too. What's their financial aid like, though?

Right. The ECS definitely sounds like the better option then. Thanks, jdm.

Hi, I was just wondering whether any one has any idea concerning what level of languages does Notre Dame require of their MA in Classics applicants? They only mention their expectations for ECS applicants, but nothing about classics. I'm starting on an MA in Theology with no languages and I plan to finish with intermediate proficiency in both classical Greek and Latin (with some German to boot), and I'm wondering whether that's enough since it is only an MA and not a PhD. Thanks!

Just to back jdm's point - if anything, I think second tier schools are usually worse with funding than top tier ones...

Ditto Yetanotherdegree's advice, especially the point about looking at their publications.

Ok, noted. Thanks, jdm!

Oh. That begs a series of side (but related) questions: when people speak of two years of Hebrew, do they mean literally two years of Hebrew grammar and vocabulary? Or do two additional semesters of Hebrew exegesis count as a second year? Or to put it another way, is there a difference between doing post-first-year Hebrew exegesis and say, Hebrew poetry/Advanced Hebrew

Thanks, jdm. That really helps. English-based DSS course it is.

Thanks for that piece of advice, jdm; unfortunately, I'm really just starting out on my languages (like several others on this forum, I wish someone had emphasised the importance of languages earlier on in my studies). Even if I could do what you suggested, there's a whole bunch of rules pertaining to course distribution requirements, elective limitations etc. that ultimately preclude doing what you suggested. It is a very good idea, though... Could I just ask quickly, then: how significant a difference is there, in terms of understanding the DSS, between doing a DSS course working purely with translations versus handling them in their original language(s)?

That's very sensible. Well, I think there's a clear answer to my question then (DSS)...thanks!

Hi People/Fellow OT-Hebrew Bible-Second Temple Folks, I'm just starting out on my first (two-year) graduate theology degree in OT/Second-Temple Judaism, and I'm focusing my first year on picking up languages - Biblical Hebrew, Classical Greek, and French - with the idea of bringing all this language preparation to bear upon more advanced courses in my second year. As fate would have it, due to a combination of certain professors going on sabbatical, the credit limitations of my program, and the seminary offering more (very) relevant courses than I can take in my second year, I have found myself in a situation where I have to request for an independent study in my first year but I have to pick a topic that is at once relevant to my concentration while taking into consideration my lack of languages. So, I was wondering: should I ask for a course in Wisdom Literature, or the Dead Sea Scrolls (there are faculty experts on both)? I think Wisdom Lit would be an easier topic to tackle since the lack of languages wouldn't affect the quality of the course that much, or at least not as much as in a course on the DSS. But, of course, I think being able to study the DSS - especially under the DSS specialist at my seminary - would be a great opportunity to really get into the world of the Second Temple era; and it is at an MA level (and so introductory) after all, so perhaps it's not that much of a loss without original languages and I could still get something out of it even if it's all in English? What do you guys think? Sapiential, or DSS? Thanks! cadences

Well, with an academia account, you can download any article that has been uploaded by fellow academia members...and there are quite a few very decent scholars among them! I just downloaded some of Annette Reed (UPenn)'s stuff

Hi kareniskimova, Glad to hear you made it into a few ThM programs! I totally understand your wish to go Candler for Hebrew Bible; I think their HB faculty just rocks. Which professor are you interested in? Don't lose hope yet; and if you're a religious person, then, keep praying I know that Candler and Duke offers a full-tuition scholarship for international ThM students, but as the director said, they're really really competitive. I think Duke dishes out only one of those each year, and I wouldn't be surprised if the stats are in the same neighbourhood for Candler. Keep us updated!

Right. Thanks so much for responding, AbrasaxEos, ttgannet! I think I have a better idea of what to do come application season. Cheers!