Yale’s Department of Classics comprises the study of Ancient Greek and Latin language and literature, ancient philosophy, linguistics, Greek and Roman history, art, archaeology, religion, and reception studies. Focused on the ancient Mediterranean, we reach out around the globe and across time from prehistory up to the present, standing at the forefront of the discipline in the twenty-first century.
All scholarship is a dialogue between antiquity and multiple presents.
The ancient world was heterogeneous: many different actors created the history and culture on which we focus. As teachers, learners, and researchers, we aim to explore, interrogate, and celebrate the common past that we enliven and share with the world.
The ancient world was heterogeneous: many different actors created the history and culture on which we focus. As teachers, learners, and researchers, we aim to explore, interrogate, and celebrate the common past that we enliven and share with the world.
With a critical eye towards our methods, our field, and ourselves, we acknowledge that all scholarship is a dialogue between antiquity and multiple presents and that every present has been shaped by the circumstances of the past. Recognizing the exclusions, past and present, that have animated the modern university and the field of Classics, we must reimagine what it means to study the histories, cultures, and literatures that have constituted the “classical” past.
Yale’s Department of Classics places the principles and practice of equity and inclusion at the heart of its educational mission and departmental life. We aspire to be a department that welcomes and affirms scholars and students from all races, ethnicities, national origins, genders, social classes, sexualities, religious beliefs, ages, and abilities.
Undergraduate Program
Teaching one of the oldest disciplines at the University, the Department of Classics has trained generations of Yale College students to think critically and succeed in industry, academia, and service.
Graduate Program
The Yale Department of Classics offers six graduate programs covering the full range of the discipline. Trained in the fundaments as well as the cutting edge of research, our Ph.D. graduates go on to hold positions around the world as experts in the study of literature, philosophy, history, and material culture.
Department News
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Yale Faculty Interviewed About the Odyssey
Yale’s expertise on the Homer film has been tapped for reactions to the blockbuster Christopher Nolan adaptation of The Odyssey.
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Prof. Erika Valdivieso Awarded NEH Grant
Classics Professor Erika Valdivieso and a group of collaborators were awarded a major NEH grant.
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Undergraduate Ryo Nagao Published in New England Classical Journal
Yale Classics undergraduate Ryo Nagao recently published an article entitled “Oral Tradition and Literary Innovation in an Epigraphic Oracle
