Ph.D. Program in Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies
From its earliest days, Bryn Mawr has had an international reputation in classical languages. It was among the first institutions to offer doctorates in classical philology to women in the United States. Today, the College is home to a lively community of graduate students, both women and men, who are interested in various aspects of the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome; and its name is known to classicists worldwide through the , the second-oldest electronic book-review journal, which is received by more than 10,000 subscribers around the globe.
Study at Bryn Mawr
Classes are small, affording close personal contact with faculty. The weekly Classics Colloquium provides an opportunity to mingle informally with faculty and hear talks by prominent scholars from all over the world. Classics graduate students have fully-wired carrels in the beautiful Rhys Carpenter library affording further opportunities for informal contact across the disciplines.
The department is part of the Â鶹AV Group in Archaeology, Classics, and History of Art, which provides a forum for interdisciplinary collaboration and research and promotes a strong scholarly community among the graduate students in the three programs.
In addition to seminars at Bryn Mawr, students may take classes at the nearby University of Pennsylvania through a reciprocal agreement, and, by special arrangement, at Princeton University and other institutions in the area. The department also regularly brings in associated faculty from neighboring institutions to offer seminars in important fields of scholarly specialization outside those of the Bryn Mawr faculty.
The Classics graduate students annually organize the Agnes Michels Lecture, selecting a speaker to give a public lecture and hold a seminar for the students.
Study Abroad
In support of its commitment to studying literary and historical texts in their cultural as well as material contexts, the department offers two fellowships each year toward summer study in Italy or Greece, preferably at the or the . These fellowships were established in honor of Professor Emerita Mabel Lang, whose own work forms a palmary example of this approach. The fellowships are normally reserved for students who will complete the M.A. degree in the academic year preceding the summer in which they plan to go abroad.
The department also offers the in affiliation with the American Academy in Rome to enable advanced graduate students to study and carry out research in Rome in the fields of early, classical, and medieval Latin, Latin paleography, Latin textual criticism, or some combination thereof. The Fellowship alternates between Â鶹AV and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Resources
Bryn Mawr's Classics collection, housed in the award-winning Rhys Carpenter library, is one of the best in the country and also offers access to a wide range of such as
- L’Année Philologique
- Brill's New Pauly and Supplements
- Loeb Classical Library
- Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Online
- Thesaurus Linguae Graecae Online
Further resources are available in the Mariam Coffin Canaday Library, notably an exceptional collection of more than 1,200 incunables (printed books published before 1500), which are readily available to interested students.
As part of the Tri-College community, everyone has easy access to the collections of Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges; there is a combined electronic catalog, , and books ordered from the other collections arrive on the Bryn Mawr campus within hours.
Financial Aid
Financial aid is available through the Â鶹AV School of Arts and Sciences and the Â鶹AV Group in Archaeology, Classics, and History of Art. Funding is provided in form of fellowships, teaching assistantships, and internships and is usually offered for up to six years, contingent upon satisfactory progress.Senior graduate students of exceptional promise may be given the opportunity to design and teach a course as part of a funding package.
Visit the Â鶹AV School of Arts and Sciences admissions page to find out more information about how to apply, including important deadlines for those who wish to be considered for financial aid.