Master of Arts (Coursework) (MA(Coursework)) in Classics

Summary

The Master of Arts (Coursework) programme is designed to give students the skills sought-after by employers around the globe, with a balance of specific subject knowledge plus broad-based transferable skills – such as oral and written communication, and analytical skills.

The degree is also an possible qualification for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

The MA(Coursework) normally requires either 12 months or three semesters of full-time, or equivalent part-time, study and entails completion of papers and a dissertation.

The dissertation is a major piece of supervised research of up to 20,000 words.

The primary aim of the MA(Coursework) is to provide candidates with a grounding in their chosen subject area within a wider disciplinary frame. The degree cultivates the skills needed to identify a significant topic, design and implement a significant piece of research, and present the findings in a form acceptable to an expert readership.

Classics

The ancient past and its legacy

Classics is the study of the civilisations of ancient Greece, Rome and the Mediterranean world. These civilisations have had an immense influence on the development of the modern world – on words and ideas, religion, literature, art and architecture, drama and philosophy. Many legal and political systems also have their roots in these ancient cultures.

Classics aims to understand these ancient civilisations and appreciate what they achieved and how important they have been in historical terms. At the same time, Classics students are challenged to confront the major questions and problems that ancient people faced, and which humanity has continued to face down the ages: human behaviour, human society, ethics, war, politics and religion – indeed, the whole meaning and purpose of life.

Career opportunities

Arts degrees provide valuable generic skills in demand in the workplace. For some jobs you may well need further specialist training. However, there are plenty of employers who value the well-rounded education Classics provides. The millionaire financier Sir Robert Jones is fond of saying that he would far rather employ a Classics graduate than a Commerce one. Employers value transferable skills such as the ability to think through a problem, to see both sides of a question, to analyse, to present an argument, and to express yourself clearly and fluently.

Recent Classics graduates have made careers not only in school and university teaching but in university administration, foreign affairs, trade and industry, social welfare, local government, tourism, computing, insurance, law, librarianship, bookselling, publishing, museums and art galleries, fashion and design, broadcasting, journalism, tourism and the theatre. This list emphasises the versatility of Classics graduates.