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Although it gets its core identity (and its name) from the "great books" that it quite rightly teaches again and again, Classics survives and thrives by striving to encompass the classical Mediterranean under many aspects and methodologies, so that its faculty all represent other fields of study as well: archaeology, art, philosophy, religion, history, linguistics, comparative literature or theater.
“How to Have Willpower: An Ancient Guide to Not Giving In,” edited and translated by professor Michael Fontaine, brings together a pair of works by Plutarch and Prudentius that show how people can overcome pressures that encourage them to act against their own best interests.
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Projects spanned topics from Confederate cemeteries to Korean textiles.
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Cornell’s newest Ph.D.s found success even through the unexpected events of the last few years, President Michael I. Kotlikoff reminded nearly 400 doctoral graduates at the 2025 Ph.D. Recognition Ceremony on May 23 at Barton Hall.
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Elaïnos Volume 1 was released Spring 2025.
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Sarah Stephenson is majoring in English and classics.
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Cristina Kiefaber is a Classics major.
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The prize will help fund her project that combines her academic training with her artistic practice.
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The award carries a stipend of $300,000; Strauss will receive the award at a ceremony on May 29 in Washington, D.C.
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Coursework in Classics can involve everything from learning to read ancient tragedies in their original languages (and even performing in them yourself) to studying what archaeobotanical evidence can tell us about climate change on the millennial scale.
Our doctoral program fully promotes an interdisciplinary approach to the ancient world. We offer all students an opportunity to develop a comprehensive course of study within one of our five concentrations: ancient history, ancient philosophy, classical archaeology and art, classical literature and philology, and Greek and Latin languages and linguistics. We support a strong series of colloquia in which faculty, guest speakers, and graduate students are presented with current work in our field of study.