What can I do with a classics degree?

The short answer is: just about anything. Given the great range and depth of knowledge required of the field—language, culture, philosophy, history—the study of classics at UVM leaves students very well prepared to lead fulfilling, informed lives and to pursue a variety of fruitful careers.

Many UVM classics majors go on to graduate study in classics, philosophy, comparative literature, history, art history, or medieval studies; others enter the professions of law, business, or medicine; still others are employed immediately in secondary education, museums, publishing houses, journalism, and a wide range of business endeavors. But because of the broad interdisciplinary focus of the College of Arts and Sciences curriculum, classics majors are equipped with a broad range of transferable skills, enabling them to succeed in any profession.

Classics majors tend to be successful because they master grammar and syntax, expand their vocabulary, and learn intellectual rigor, communication skills, and analytical skills. They also possess the ability to handle complex information, and, above all, a breadth of view which few other disciplines can provide. 

  • Classics for life

    Bronwen Hudson '14 recently completed her master’s degree in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology at Oxford University. She cites the background in Latin and English acquired at UVM as crucial for her success in graduate school. “I can’t express the gratitude I feel towards so many excellent folks at UVM, but the people associated with the classics department will always have a particularly sacred place in my heart. Their teaching directly affected my post graduate career.”

    Hudson’s interest in the classical world is rooted in her childhood—she remembers her father reading “The Iliad” aloud to her and her siblings when she was about seven. Her family bounced around between Vermont and New Zealand during her childhood. “I was fortunate enough to be dragged around a bit—something one only appreciates later in life, I think. But I think of Vermont as home.”

    The Hudsons returned to Vermont when Bronwen entered high school. She graduated a year early from Champlain Valley Union High School, equipped with a strong background in Latin. “I remember everything from ‘Caecilius est in via’ to the toga-bedecked students filing onto the bus for Latin Day (an annual event for high school Latin students in Vermont hosted by UVM classics).”

    Read more of Bronwen's story. 

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A degree of difference

Graduates from the department routinely go on to advanced study in the classics or related fields. A small sample of these institutions include:

Duke University
Cornell University
Florida State University
Indiana University
Johns Hopkins University
New York University
Oxford University
Princeton University
University of Cal. Berkeley
University College of Dublin
University College of London
University of Chicago
Yale University