Ancient History at UCSB

 

The Acts of...

 

 

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. Rome of the later Empire and Late Antiquity are represented by Profs. Drake and Digeser respectively, emphasizing paganism, Christianity, and the development of political and religious institutions.

 

In addition, several scholars in these two departments and others work and teach in closely related areas: Roman society (Shelton, Classics), Roman religion and Latin historiography (Hahn, Classics), Early Christianity (Thomas, Religious Studies), Greek and Roman art and archaeology (Erickson and Yegül, Classics and History of Art and Architecture). Also, the History Department has a strong Medieval program that pairs well with its strengths in Late Antiquity.

 

Profs. Erickson, Lee and Yegül are actively associated with excavations in Greece and Turkey, and through them certain opportunities of field or collection work may arise. Funds are available from the Argyropoulos Foundation for Hellenic Studies for study-travel in Greece.

 

The Faculty

 

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.

 

Department of Classics

Department of History

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.

MA/PhD in History, Ancient Mediterranean World  

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 Southern California who meet regularly for workshops, colloquia, and conferences.
     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. Wisconsin): Roman empire; late antiquity; Christian-pagan relations.

 

Brice Erickson (Ph.D. University of Texas): Greek archaeology; Crete; ceramic studies.

 

Frances V. Hickson-Hahn (Ph.D. University of North Carolina): Roman religion; Livy.

 

John W.I. Lee (Ph.D. Cornell): Classical and Hellenistic Greece ; social and cultural history of warfare; Xenophon; Greek archaeology and epigraphy; ethnicity and identity.

 

Robert Morstein-Marx (Ph.D. Berkeley) Roman Republic and Early Empire; Hellenistic Greece; Roman historians and oratory; Roman topography and monuments; epigraphy.

 

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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