Graduate Programs in Classics at the University of Western Ontario

[uwodgs]

Greetings,

I'm the Grad Chair in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Western Ontario, and I hope that my post here won't be too much of an intrusion by someone on the other side of this whole process. I will say, moreover, that it's not too long since I was in your shoes and can sympathize with the stress that this process generates: I wish you all well in your applications this season.

More specifically, I wish to draw your attention to the grad programs at Western Ontario: we offer both the MA and the PhD in Classics, and in conjunction with the Philosophy Department we will be introducing a new MA in Ancient Philosophy (see ).

In the Department of Classics, we have had tremendous success in placing our MA graduates into top PhD programs, including Brown, Cincinnati, Cambridge, FSU, McMaster, Stanford, Toronto, UCLA and York. Recent additions to our faculty complement have expanded our research expertise beyond Western’s longstanding excellence in Greek poetry (Brown, Suksi, MacLachlan): we now have scholars actively working on projects related to ancient literature and literary theory (Pogorzelski, Stocking), Roman social history (Olson, Greene), Greek oratory and social memory (Steinbock), Roman military history and ethnography (Greene, Meyer), Greek philosophy and rhetoric (Sharp), Roman historiography (Nousek), and art and archaeology (Wilson, Greene). In the area of material culture and archaeology, Elizabeth Greene and Alexander Meyer (co-directors) established the Vindolanda Field School, an ongoing excavation project which will see its second season in summer 2013.

We offer guaranteed funding packages (though students are expected to pay tuition and fees) for both degrees to all qualified applicants, for both Canadian and International students. There are opportunities to study with award-winning professors in all the major subfields of Classics combined with a high degree of faculty/student interaction. Western’s Classics department also enjoys a fruitful collaboration with the Departments of Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy, Visual Arts, and Women’s Studies and Feminist Research. Our library resources are outstanding, with a first-class collection of classical texts and research resources, both in print and online. There are fieldwork opportunities for students interested in Classical Archaeology and travel funding is available for students to conduct or present their research at conferences and other research venues.

For further information, please contact the Department by email at clasgrad@uwo.ca, by viewing our Departmental website www.uwo.ca/classics, or by writing to me directly at dnousek[at]uwo.ca. I will check back here as well if you would prefer to ask questions in this forum.

With best wishes for the upcoming application season,

Debra Nousek