Requirements  for the Graduate Programs in Classics

of The University of Vermont

A. For the Master of Arts in Greek and Latin

I. Courses:

30 hours: 24 hours (= 8 three-hour courses, including 6 hours of Greek or Latin 381) and 6 hours of thesis credits (GKLT 391). Three hours of a course numbered at the 100 level may with permission of the Department be applied to the M.A., in which case the Department must notify the Graduate College Office. When you are in courses at the 200-level with undergraduates, your instructor will either give you more work to do or grade your work according to higher expectations than for the undergraduates. According to Graduate College rules (see Catalogue, p. 18) the candidates for a graduate degree must complete the program requirements with a minimum average of 3.00 (= B). More than two grades below B, or U on the thesis, may result in dismissal from the Graduate College.

II. Reading List for the Comprehensive Examination:

Greek Authors

Author and Text

Translation
Homer Iliad 1, 8, 22 All
Homer Odyssey any three books
Hesiod Erga 1-250 All
Lyric Poets any 4 complete in Campbell Bowra's Greek Lyric Poetry
Drama 2 plays each for 3 of the 4 dramatists and those read in class 25 plays
Herodotus 1 book All
Thucydides 1 book All
Plato Apologyor other short dialogue; Republicbook 1 Republic, Phaedo, Meno, Gorgias,one other dialogue
Orators: Lysias in Adams or Jebb's book Selections from the Attic Orators
Aristotle Poetics, Athenaion Politeia
Other suggestions: Theocritus, Plutarch, Lucian, OT-LXX, NT, Xenophon

Latin Authors

 

Author and Text

Translation
Plautus 4 plays 8 plays
Terence 1 play 3 plays
Catullus All
Sallust 1 treatise
Lucretius 3 books All
Cicero 2 orations, 5 other works, Abbot letters, de Senectute, de Finibus
Caesar Bello Gallico4 books, Bello Civili1 book
Tibullus 1 book
Propertius 1 book
Horace Odes3 books, Epistles1 book
Vergil Aeneid8 books, Eclogues All
Ovid Metamorphoses1 book All
Juvenal 6 Satires
Pliny the Younger Selected Letters
Petronius Cena Trimalchionis

III. Modern Foreign Languages:

One modern language (French, German, Italian, or Spanish) is required. To receive the Department's endorsement for continued work towards the Ph.D. a reading knowledge of two of these languages is required. The exam is administered orally in the following way: You will be asked to read aloud and translate into English a text on a classical subject of about one paragraph, chosen by the examiner. The test lasts about 10 minutes.

IV. The Comprehensive Exam has three parts, each taken on separate days.

The Department tries to accommodate itself to your request of date and time for the exams.  Each part can be attempted twice only.  The three parts are as follows:
(1) Greek and Latin Sight Exam (4 hours): one text of poetry and one of prose in each language. There are some notes supplied. Texts will be chosen from authors on the Reading List or from those read in courses you have taken, or the equivalent in style and difficulty. This exam must be passed before you may attempt either of the other two (which may be taken in any order).
(2) Greek and Latin Philology (4 hours): Some objective questions consisting of identifications of ancient authors, scholars, and reference materials; essay questions on genres and themes in Greek and Latin literature; comparative questions, particularly on the application of Greek sources in Latin literature.
(3) Greek and Roman History (3 hours): You may request a stress upon either Greek or Roman, or split the test equally between the two; there will be identifications, chronological questions, and essays, particularly on historiography.

V. Thesis and Oral Examination:

The thesis cannot be formally submitted until all parts of the Comprehensive Examination have been passed. When the thesis has been submitted, the Chair of the thesis committee schedules an Oral Examination. All members of the department are expected to attend, and other students are invited. This examination is primarily upon the thesis.
The thesis is directed usually by one member of the Department. Choice of thesis director is determined mainly by the subject matter of the thesis. When you enroll for Greek or Latin 391, you can expect to meet weekly through one or two semesters with your director and submit work in progress for advice. The final format of the thesis must adhere to the requirements established by the Graduate College. The Graduate College has a set of procedures for preparation of the thesis and the oral examination. Read them carefully.  One requirement is that the Chair of the Oral Examination be from outside the Department. Your thesis director and you should arrange a choice of outside Chair very near the outset of your work on the thesis topic.
You will also submit your thesis to at least one "second reader" from within the Department. It is a good procedure to present the completed draft well before the Oral Examination. You may also submits parts of your work in progress to the second reader or to other faculty  even from the beginning of your research.
Do not forget that during the period of thesis preparation you must also be preparing for the Comprehensive Examination, all parts of which must be passed before the Oral Examination.

B. For the Master of Arts in Teaching of Latin and/or Greek

I. Application for this degree is made both to the College of Education and to the Department of Classics.

II. Courses:

This degree has no thesis requirement.  The standards of performance in courses taken with the Classics Department will be the same as for the M.A. in Greek and Latin described above.

III. Concentration:

Usually students choose to concentrate in Latin.  A second foreign language is strongly recommended, either a modern one as a second teaching field, or Greek.

IV. Teacher Certification:

Originally designed as a program of 30 credit hours (see Catalogue, p. 21) for those already licensed to teach, the program now may lead to licensure. Those seeking licensure, however, will expect to complete the requirements in two years with more than 30 credit hours: one year of graduate-level courses (at least 21 hours) in Latin and/or Greek (Greek courses may be applied to the degree in Latin and vice versa); a second year  taking courses necessary for licensure with the College of Education, including one semester of practice teaching (supervised by both the faculty of the Classics Department and the College of Education).

V. Comprehensive Examinations:

By the end of the second year the student must have passed a general comprehensive exam including (1) a written sight examination in Latin and/or Greek (at the student's option), (2) an examination in Roman history (or for the candidate for the MAT in Greek, in Greek history), (3) an examination in literature and philology, and (5) an oral examination on the pedagogy of Latin and/or Greek. Preferably, the sight examination will be taken by the end of the first year of study, the pedagogy examination at the conclusion of the practice teaching. For the history examination an appropriate course in Roman or Greek history may be substituted. For the examination in literature and philology, the final examination in Greek and Latin 300, Pro-Seminar, may be substituted.
For further information contact:
Prof. Robert Rodgers, Co-ordinator of Graduate Studies
Department of Classics
The University of Vermont
481 Main Street
Burlington, VT 05405

(802) 656-4626
rrodgers@zoo.uvm.edu