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Current Classics/Classical Studies Program Rankings in USA


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How would you rank the current Classics/Classical Studies programs in the USA? Of course, this is a bit of a silly question, since this list probably varies widely depending on which facet of the field you choose to prioritize. But that aside, which programs do you perceive to be the best as of date? 

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It is impossible to answer this question without more information.

 

Are you a Hellenist or a Romanist?

 

If you are a Hellenist, do you work on Archaic, Hellenistic, Second Sophistic?

 

If you are a Latinist, do you work on republican literature or imperial?

 

Prose or poetry?

 

If prose, what genre? Philosophy? History? Epistolography?

 

If poetry, what genre? Comedy? Epic? Lyric? Tragedy?

 

Are you an archaeologist? If so, what period? Bronze? Classical? Late Antique? Greek or Roman?

 

Are you looking for a program at a large state school or a smaller private college? Is diversity important to you? Do you want a lot of teaching experience, or more time to do research?

 

See what I mean? A top ten list is going to be different for each person. UW is big on literary criticism, but if that's not your sort of thing, you're not going to like it there. Cincinnati is great for bronze age archaelogy, but if you specialize in Greek lyric, you'd want to look elsewhere. I hate these kinds of posts.

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If you hate this post, you certainly aren't obliged to respond! :D

 

This is the only overall ranking list that I'm aware of, but it's a bit out-of-date: http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124716/.

 

If you'd like to rank schools based upon a certain subfield, please do! I'd love to read people's perceptions of various programs. I thought this might be a helpful thread for folks as they are getting interviews and considering their options. Someone made a similar thread several years ago, and I found it interesting. Not trying to ruffle feathers or give offense! Pax.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I disagree broadly with the notion that you would have to know the specific interests/facets to get a sense for where the best classics departments are as far as getting a graduate education goes.

 

There are some programs that will simply provide better philological preparation, allow you to read more, put you into better contact with more well-respected people in a variety of disciplines, not only your own, and so on. Do you have to be at one of these programs to get a great job, be intelligent, be a great reader of texts, and so on? No. Nothing is guaranteed anywhere and you can be successful from any background, but it's also a bit preposterous to claim that there are no departments that have better reputations for attracting and producing the "best" students. Perhaps if one knows exactly what one wants to study and does not care much about the general strengths of the program, his/her interests will be narrower in considering schools; but frankly, presuming that you will not change your interests at all or benefit from contact with really smart people in any number of other concentrations strikes me as either naïve or unimaginative for a great number of the prospective students.

 

I must say that I think the question of the what the "best" schools are for classics is boring, but I don't think it's an asburd one to discuss in general terms, even if it's not terribly useful. People will apply to different places based on where they want to live, based on program fit, etc., but that doesn't mean that some schools aren't generally stronger overall in classical research than others.

 

As for which and in what order--I've already said that those questions don't interest me too much. I think that the lists you've adduced, ὦ Χελώνη, suffice to give a good idea of which programs are typically thought to be strongs in classics, though I suspect one could quarrel over specific positions and perhaps a few inclusions/exclusions.

Edited by Starbuck
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