The Discipline and the Professionals

The Discipline

Classical Studies is a sub-discipline of history focusing on the ancient Greek and Roman people and cultures. Scholars learn about these cultures by studying Greek and Latin language, literature, religion/mythology, art, culture, and archaeology. Classicists are historians, but they can branch out into other disciplines depending on what they are studying specifically.

The Professionals

With a Classics degree, some students go into academia: they become professors or researchers at universities. Others do this at archives, libraries, and museums. However, most go into other careers. According to the University of Cambridge, the following jobs valued an applicant with a Classics degree: "Archivist, Barrister, Chartered accountant, Civil Service fast streamer, Editorial assistant, Heritage manager, Higher education lecturer, Market researcher, Museum/gallery curator, Newspaper journalist, Public relations account executive, Secondary school teacher, Solicitor" (University of Cambridge, 2019). Many of these do not require a Classics degree, but the skills acquired during a Classics education prepare students for any job.

Classics students are likely to be focused on either literature/language or history. As a librarian, it is important to know what level of source the student is looking for and if they need epic poetry, political treatises, or images of artifacts. Hobbyists, who would likely be users in a public library or casual browsers of any library, will likely just say they are interested in Greek mythology.

The Society for Classical Studies is one of the oldest and largest professional organizations dedicated to Classical Studies and research. Founded in 1869, it "is the principal learned society in North America for the study of ancient Greek and Roman languages, literatures, and civilizations" (Society for Classical Studies, 2019). Members are mostly Classicists and university instructors, but other scholars, elementary and secondary school teachers, and "interested lay people" are also involved. Some of the goals of the organization include providing education support, improving scholarly opportunities, and coordinating data collection and research in the field. Librarians would likely find the professional development and job support most useful, should they give that information to Classics students.

Society for Classical Studies. (2019). About SCS. Retrieved from https://classicalstudies.org/about/about-scs

University of Cambridge. (2019). Classics Tripos and your career. Retrieved from http://www.careers.cam.ac.uk/subjects/Classics.asp

Some of the top universities that have prolific Classics programs and execute research include:

Sapienza - Università di Roma
University of Oxford
University of Cambridge
Harvard University
Université Paris-Sorbonne
Princeton University
University of Chicago

Topics

While there aren't really current issues or hot topics in Classical Studies, there is current and ongoing research. This research falls into many different sub-disciplines.

Classical archaeology, which includes architecture, art, and other ephemera like currency
Classical history, which includes society and geography
- This history is typically split up into two eras: the Bronze Age (c. 3200-600 BCE) and Classical Antiquity (c. 8th century BCE-750 CE). These dates are generalized and do not necessarily apply to other areas of the world.
Classical religion and mythology, which retained many similarities when the Romans adopted it from the Greeks
Classical philology, which includes language and literature
- Theatre and poetry are the two main categories of literature
Paleography, which is the study of ancient forms of writing
Classical science and technology
- This includes mathematics, astronomy, medicine, agriculture, engineering, and military technology
Classical philosophy
- There were many schools of philosophical thought and countless philosophers from which more modern philosophers received inspiration

For most of these areas of study, there is delineation between the Greeks, Romans, and other Mediterranean cultures like the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Israelites, Canaanites, Etruscans, Persians, Mesopotamians, and many others.