Encompassing the classical Mediterranean under many aspects and methodologies

Academics

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.

Popular Destinations

Undergraduate Program Ph.D. Program Course Listings

Classics News

Trade expert discusses misconceptions about trade Jan. 29

Scott Lincicome will talk about imports, tariffs and globalization during his talk, “What You Think You Know About Trade is Probably Wrong."

Person with dust on face and arms, smiling while standing in a hole in the ground, an archaeological dig site

‘Households in Context’ wins Wiseman Book Award

Based on a 2018 conference co-organized by Caitie Barrett, professor of classics, and Jennifer Carrington, Ph.D. ’19, the book focuses on houses and households during a period when Egypt was ruled by Greeks and then by Romans.

Two people wearing lab safety glasses read a computer screen

Ancient dirty dishes reveal decades of questionable findings

An interdisciplinary team of researchers determined that organic residues of plant oils are poorly preserved in calcareous soils from the Mediterranean, leading decades of archaeologists to likely misidentify olive oil in ceramic artifacts.

Person standing on a rocky hill, looking out over a huge, green plain

The long, deep dig: Collaboration excavates the ancient city of Sardis

A collaboration between Cornell and Harvard has continuously excavated the ancient city.

Ancient stone building near modern buildings in Athens, Greece

Public speeches challenged assumptions in ancient Greece

In a new paper, Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow Davide Napoli argues that public speeches in ancient Greece aimed not to express personal views, but to undermine entrenched ideas and challenge common-sense conclusions.

Autumn orange tree with a person lying under it, reading

Your September 2025 reads

This month’s featured titles include the latest by a National Book Award winner and a classical history of Jewish resistance to Rome.

2025 Nexus Scholars talk about academic growth, transformation

Ten students who participated in this summer's Nexus Scholars Program share their stories..

Book details Jews’ two-century fight against Roman Empire

Barry Strauss ’74 shines a light on the resilience the Jews of Judea showed in their rebellion against the Romans.

More Classics News

Undergraduate Program

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.

Discover our Majors and our Minors.

Graduate Program

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.

Classics Graduate Studies Overview