Classics

Field Description

The Ph.D. degree requires six semesters in residence and the successful completion of one of the programs listed below.

Ancient History
Ancient History at Cornell can be studied either in the Field of History or in the Field of Classics. The concentration aims to train students both as historians and as classicists. It is designed differently for students in the two Fields, but strongly encourages those in one Field to strengthen their preparation by relevant work in the other.

Ancient Philosophy
The study of ancient philosophy at Cornell is administered jointly by the Fields of Classics and Philosophy, and members of the two Fields cooperate in teaching and supervising graduate students. The program aims at training productive scholars and effective teachers of ancient philosophy who will also be well-rounded classicists and philosophers. The concentration is designed differently for students in the two Fields, but it strongly encourages those in one Field to strengthen their preparation by relevant work in the other.

Classical Archaeology and Art
The Concentration in Classical Archaeology and Art aims to provide the training and context to produce scholars ready to engage in cutting-edge archaeological research and teaching about the Greek and Roman worlds (including Cyprus and the wider Mediterranean area) in any period from prehistory through to Late Antiquity. Candidates are trained to be qualified for academic positions with an archaeological focus in Departments of Classics, History of Art, or Anthropology, as well as in interdisciplinary Archaeology Programs concerned with the ancient world and complex societies. The Cornell program offers a strong institutional setting, combining a long pedigree in outstanding Classical scholarship, cognate departments and courses in History of Art, Near Eastern Studies, and Anthropology, and world-leading science departments for those seeking to develop inter-disciplinary projects.

Classical Literature and Philology
This concentration, focusing on Greek and Latin languages and literature, is the most frequently chosen Ph.D. program in the Field of Classics, and provides students with the opportunity to follow a traditional training in philology and textual criticism, to explore Classical literature in the light of modern literary critical methodology, or to do both. The Graduate Faculty offers seminars and other graduate-level courses, taught from a wide range of critical perspectives, on ancient authors from Homer to Boethius and on topics such as textual criticism, epigraphy, and Greek and Roman Religion, to name but a few.

Greek and Latin Languages and Linguistics
Graduate applicants to the Field of Classics whose primary interest is in the Greek and Latin languages per se may choose to pursue the Concentration in Greek and Latin Languages and Linguistics. The aim of this concentration is to acquire a broad background in general linguistics; Greek, Latin, and Indo-European linguistics; and Greek and Latin philology.

Interdisciplinary Classics 

Interdisciplinary Classics is a concentration that fully promotes an interdisciplinary approach to the ancient world by training students in three different disciplines of Classics through course work and reading lists. It encourages students to make new connections between areas that have been traditionally distinct, bringing together, e.g., epigraphy, science, art history, history, philosophy, literature, and classical reception.

Contact Information

120 Goldwin Smith Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-3201

Data and Statistics

• Doctoral Program Statistics

Field Manual

• Manual

Subject and Degrees

Classics

• Classics (Ph.D.) (Ithaca)

Concentrations by Subject

Classics

• ancient history
• ancient philosophy
• classical archaeology and art
• classical literature and philology
• classical myth (minor)
• classical rhetoric (minor)
• Greek and Latin language and linguistics
• Indo-European linguistics (minor)
• interdisciplinary track

Faculty

Annetta Alexandridis

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: classical archaeology and art; interdisciplinary track
• Research Interests: Greek and Roman art

Benjamin William Anderson

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: ancient history; interdisciplinary track

Caitlin Barrett

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: classical archaeology and art
• Research Interests: classical archaeology and Egyptology

Theodore R. Brennan

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: ancient philosophy; interdisciplinary track
• Research Interests: Hellenistic philosophy; ancient ethics

Charles Francis Brittain

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: ancient philosophy; classical literature and philology; classical rhetoric; interdisciplinary track
• Research Interests: ancient philosophy; Greek and Latin literature

Michael S. Fontaine

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: classical literature and philology
• Research Interests: Latin language and literature

Jill Frank

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: ancient philosophy; classical literature and philology
• Research Interests: Ancient Philosophy, Classical Literature and Philology

Nicole Julia Giannella

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: ancient history; classical literature and philology; interdisciplinary track
• Research Interests: ancient history, Latin literature

Andrew Hicks

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: classical literature and philology
• Research Interests:

Rachana Kamtekar

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: ancient philosophy
• Research Interests: ancient philosophy; ancient history; ethics; political philosophy

Lori Khatchadourian

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: classical archaeology and art
• Research Interests: eastern Mediterranean in antiquity; Achaemenid Persian empire; first millennium BC near east; archaeology of Eurasia and the South Caucasus

Athena E. Kirk

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: classical literature and philology; interdisciplinary track
• Research Interests: Greek Literature

Cat Lambert

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: classical literature and philology; interdisciplinary track
• Research Interests: Greek and Latin Literature History of the Book Queer Studies Gender & Sexuality Studies

Scott C MacDonald

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: ancient philosophy
• Research Interests: ancient philosophy

Sturt W. Manning

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: classical archaeology and art
• Research Interests: Aegean, Cypriot and East Mediterranean prehistory; archaeology; dendrochronology; radiocarbon dating; climate and history

Lawrence J. McCrea

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: Greek and Latin language and linguistics
• Research Interests: Greek and Latin languages and linguistics; Sanskrit

Alan Jeffrey Nussbaum

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: classical literature and philology
• Research Interests: Greek, Italic, and Indo-European linguistics

Hayden Newhall Pelliccia

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: classical literature and philology
• Research Interests: Greek literature

Verity J. Platt

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: classical archaeology and art; interdisciplinary track
• Research Interests: Greek and Roman art

Eric Rebillard

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: ancient history; interdisciplinary track
• Research Interests: ancient history

Courtney Roby

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: ancient philosophy; classical literature and philology; interdisciplinary track
• Research Interests: ancient science and technology

Michael L Weiss

• Campus: Ithaca
• Concentrations: Classics: Greek and Latin language and linguistics
• Research Interests: Indo-European linguistics; Greek and Latin language and linguistics