Classics and Ancient Studies
In the department of Classics and Ancient Studies, our course offerings focus on the cultures of ancient Egypt, Nubia, the Levant, Greece, and Rome. In our lectures and seminars, we take an interdisciplinary approach, privileging the study of language, literature, archaeology, religion, philosophy, and cultural reception. We are particularly invested in exploring ethnicity, gender, class, and differential power dynamics as they existed in the past. Understanding how Greco-Roman and Egyptian antiquity has been used and abused in later eras – including our own – is also of vital concern. Indeed, given that “the Classics” have served as the basis of a particularly privileged brand of Western education until the present day, the study of ancient ideas and of modern intellectual history concerning these ideas aids analytical thinking about the present. Moreover, through learning ancient languages, students are able to directly access the written ideas of a wide variety of philosophers, poets, political theorists, playwrights, and graffiti-scribbling wall defacers, at the same time as they gain a greater comfort with the grammar, syntax, and etymology of English and other modern languages. Close cooperation between Barnard and Columbia ensures that – no matter where in the ancient Mediterranean world a student’s intellectual interests reside – she should emerge from the program having been encouraged to explore them in depth and well prepared to pursue graduate studies or a wide variety of other professional opportunities.
Fall 2026 Information for Current Students
Going forward, the Portal will be the primary place for schedule updates and announcements, so we recommend bookmarking it and checking in regularly.
Opportunities: Study Abroad, Excavate, & Intern
Barnard College participates in the program of the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome. Majors in Classics or Ancient Studies are eligible to apply for admission to the program of the Rome Center for one semester, preferably in the junior year. Courses taken at the Rome Center may be used in the major and, in some cases, may be used to satisfy distribution requirements. The program provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to study ancient history and archaeology in Rome, Greek and Latin literature, and ancient and renaissance art. Students planning to apply to the ICCS should plan to take Roman history before applying and preference is given to those with two or more years of Latin and Greek. Applications for the spring term are due in mid-October and for the fall term in mid-March. Because of Sicily’s ancient connections to Greece, the program focuses more on the Hellenic culture of Magna Graeca and Sicily’s place as a cultural crossroads in the ancient Mediterranean.
About Our Department
Major
Fulfilling the Language Requirement
Study Abroad
Greek or Latin play
Classics and Ancient Studies in New York
Careers
Our Faculty
