Tell me about your classics/ancient history/archeology degree!

I'm considering studying a subject in the classical field but know relatively little of what the actual degrees are like apart from Edinburgh's degree.
I'd love to hear of how you found it and what some enjoyable and less enjoyable aspects are.
Thanks!

Reply 1

Sandtrooper

Original post

by binti_Lamees

I did Egyptology. Happy to elaborate if you are interested?

Reply 2

username4258134

Original post

by Sandtrooper

I did Egyptology. Happy to elaborate if you are interested?

Yes! I'd love to hear about what kind of topics you covered, what skills you learned and what career prospects it brought :smile:

Reply 3

PinkMobilePhone

Chat Forum Helper, Life & Style Forum Helper

Sorry I'm a bit late to respond to this.

I started with full time BA Hons Classical Civilisation at the University of Leeds, so for Year 1 my modules were :
-Greek World
-Homer's Odyssey
-Greek Tragedy : An Introduction
-Roman World
-Ancient Greek Philosophy : An Introduction
-Gladiators and Barbarian Queens: Reconfiguring the Ancient World in Literature and Modern Film

I left Leeds Uni, and I'm now doing part time BA Hons Classical Studies at the Open University.
My module for this year is Exploring the Classical World which is split into four subsections as follows :
-Homer and the Early Greek World
-Classical Athens
-The Roman Republic
-Rome - City and People

Next year I'll be learning Latin for the entire year.

The year after that, the module I'll be doing is The Roman Empire which is split into five subsections as follows :
-Framing the Empire
-The Heart of the Empire : The City of Rome
-Structure of Empire
-A Cultural Empire
-Legacy of Empire

And for my final year the module I'll be doing is Greek and Roman myth: stories and histories
It's a brand new module for the university, starting in 2022, so I don't know what the subsections will be yet.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 4

Sandtrooper

Original post

by binti_Lamees

Yes! I'd love to hear about what kind of topics you covered, what skills you learned and what career prospects it brought :smile:

Topics varied hugely, from history, religion, materials, architecture, to the languages and linguistics. It taught me all of the skills you'd learn in a history degree, e.g. communication, analysis, attention to detail etc, but also the more practical side meant that there was a lot of teamwork, which you might not get in other degrees.

In terms of career prospects, it's a bit hit and miss - some people I know have excellent jobs, in accountancy, politics, sales etc, and I got a pretty decent job before going back to university for my MA. Some people haven't been able to get graduate level jobs, but I think that's more to do with lack of experience than anything else.