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Across two departments,
History and Classics, UCSB has no fewer than five professors who identify their
primary research area as Greek or Roman History. Greek History of the Archaic
and Classical periods is covered by Profs. Jordan and Lee, whose specializations
include history of land and naval warfare, historiography, archaeology and
epigraphy, ethnic identity and religion. Prof. Morstein-Marx focuses on
Republican Rome and the Early Principate, with occasional forays into
Hellenistic history; special interests include historiography, oratory,
political theory, Roman topography and monuments.
In addition, several
scholars in these two departments and others work and teach in closely related
areas: Roman society (
Profs. Erickson, Lee and
Yegül are actively associated with excavations in
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Degree Programs
There are two graduate programs in Ancient History at UCSB, both of which award the M.A. and Ph.D. Both programs boast a low faculty-student ratio, extensive opportunities for faculty-student interaction, and a cohesive graduate student community.
MA and PhD in Classics with Emphasis in Ancient History
This interdisciplinary degree involves significant coursework in the History Department as well as Classics, and is designed for those students who wish to emphasize ancient history in their training, but without sacrificing the classical languages. The course of study combines a rigorous training in Greek, Latin, and Classical literature with research seminars in ancient history.This program trains students in the professional practice of ancient history. The program involves comprehensive training in historical methods and the handling of evidence, along with rigorous language preparation. Specific course requirements are kept to a minimum in order to allow students maximum flexibility in designing (in consultation with their advisors) the course of study that best suits their needs and interests. Particular emphasis is given to making theoretical and comparative connections with other fields of history.
FAQs
How much preparation in the Classical languages is
needed for entry into each program?
History: We recommend that applicants have at least one year each of coursework in classical Greek and Latin, along with reading knowledge of at least one modern foreign language (normally French, German, or Italian). Promising students may be admitted with language deficiencies. All students, however, must successfully pass Greek and Latin translation exams, as well as translation exams in two modern foreign languages.
Classics: As a rule, in order to pass the translation examinations in good time, applicants should have completed a minimum of two years’ study of one Classical language before entry into the program and three years of the other. An applicant’s special circumstances as well as an extraordinary record in other respects will, however, also be taken into consideration.
How much preparation in Ancient History is needed for
entry into each program?
History: Applicants must meet the general requirements for admission to the History Department's M.A./Ph.D. program. They should be familiar with the narrative framework of Greek and Roman history (for example, through completing upper-division undergraduate course work in ancient history), and have taken at least one seminar course requiring the research and writing of a long analytical paper.
Classics: Applicants should be familiar with the narrative framework of Greek and Roman history, and have taken at least one upper-division course in Greek history and one upper-division course in Roman history. The applicant should also have written at least one major research paper on Greek or Roman history, which should be submitted with the application as a writing sample.
What kinds of professional goals are most consistent
with each program?
History: Our program trains solid research scholars with excellent teaching preparation and versatility. If you see yourself as a faculty member in a History Department, writing scholarly articles and books, teaching Western or World Civilization surveys in addition to Greek and/or Roman history courses, and interacting with historians of diverse periods and fields, then our program is suitable for you.
Classics: This degree program is primarily designed for those who hope to obtain a teaching position in a Classics Department, where teaching duties are most likely to include Greek and/or Latin and areas of Classical literature and culture as well as ancient history.
What opportunities for interdisciplinary study does
this program offer?
History: We encourage our students not only to work with
faculty in related departmental groups, including medieval European and Islamic
history, but also to study with faculty pursuing related interests in other
disciplines. Amongst these are the
departments of Anthropology, Classics, History of Art & Architecture,
Philosophy, and Religious Studies.
Graduate students focusing on Roman history and Late Antiquity also have
the opportunity to participate in PENATES, a group drawing together scholars
from UCSB, UCLA, UC Riverside, USC, and other institutions throughout
A variety of other colloquia and
research groups, such as the History Department's ongoing series on Race,
Ethnicity & Nationhood, and the campus-wide Militaries & Societies
Research Focus Group, provide graduate students opportunities for
interdisciplinary work.
Classics: Classics is by nature an interdisciplinary program, and this degree program itself includes requirements in Greek and Latin language and philology, Greek and Latin literature (including historical, rhetorical, and philosophical authors), as well as Greek and Roman history (with most coursework taken in the History Department). There are excellent opportunities for interaction with a network of working archaeologists in the Departments of Classics, History, Religious Studies and Anthropology, and for those with interests in the later Classical world valuable connections might be made with a strong Medieval Studies program.
What is the placement record of each program?
History: UCSB Ph.D.s in Ancient History have competed successfully in the academic job market, finding employment in a wide range of institutions from large research universities to small liberal arts colleges.
Classics: The Ancient History Emphasis in the Classics graduate program is a relatively new program. Two M.A.s have been completed in Classics with Emphasis in Ancient History, and both students have been accepted into other elite programs for further graduate study. Although the placement record for UCSB Ph.D.s in Classics is very good, we have not yet conferred a Ph.D. in the Ancient History Emphasis.
What sort of financial support is available in each
program?
History: Funding resources include departmental and university fellowships and teaching assistantships. A number of privately endowed fellowships are awarded yearly through UCSB's History Associates.
Overall the History Department admits just twenty graduate students each year, but offers multi-year fellowship packages to more than half. University of California Teaching Assistantships, among the most generous in the nation, are available to almost all graduate students after their first year.
Classics: Most financial support for incoming and current graduate students in Classics comes in the form of Teaching Assistantships. Although it is for administrative and legal reasons impossible to award multi-year T.A. packages, in principle the Department is committed to continuing to support students while they make good progress toward the degree. A handful of multi-year University of California fellowships are regularly made available to our strongest applicants.
UCSB
Ancient Historians and Associated Faculty
Elizabeth De Palma Digeser (Ph.D. Santa Barbara): Late Antiquity; late Roman philosophy and theology; late Roman law; paganism and Christianity; identity.
Harold A. Drake (Ph.D.
Brice Erickson (Ph.D. University of Texas):
Greek archaeology;
Frances V. Hickson-Hahn (Ph.D. University of North Carolina): Roman religion; Livy.
Robert Morstein-Marx
(Ph.D. Berkeley)
Jo-Ann Shelton (Ph.D. Berkeley): Roman society; Roman imperial literature.
Christine M. Thomas (Ph.D. Harvard): Religions of the Roman Empire; early Christianity; Early Church history; archaeology of religions; oral and written modes in antiquity.
Fikret K. Yegül (Ph.D. Harvard): Greek and Roman art; architectural history.
Faculty in Related
Fields
Anthropology
Stuart Smith (archaeology of Egypt and Nubia, culture contact and imperialism, ceramic analysis)
Phillip Walker (physical anthropology, Indo-European ethnography)
Classics
Apostolos Athanassakis (Greek poetry, classical linguistics)
Francis Dunn (Greek drama, Latin poetry, narrative theory)
Dorota Dutsch (Roman Comedy, Greek New Comedy, women in the ancient world)
Sara Lindheim (Latin poetry, critical and feminist theory)
Robert Renehan (Greek and Latin literature, textual criticism, Greek philosophy and medicine)
Philosophy
Voula Tsouna (ancient philosophy)
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