Juniors

Welcome to the Classics Department! We are happy you have decided to pursue a concentration in Classics, and we look forward to getting to know each of you over the next two years. Please take a look around the website and be sure you know where to find information on the requirements of your particular track within the department, important dates and deadlines, library resources for Classicists, and travel opportunities – and check in regularly to learn more about the activities and news of our students, faculty, and alumni.

Dan-el Padilla Peralta teaching

Professor Dan-El Padilla Peralta 

Your studies in your junior year will be anchored by the Junior Seminar, CLA 340. The goals of the seminar are fourfold: 

  • to help you explore a range of topics and methodologies of study within Classics
  • to introduce you to faculty members in the Department and the range of their expertise and research interests
  • to help you develop strategies for research and writing your independent work
  • to foster reflection and dialogue concerning the history and present of Classics as a discipline

The majors seminar meets twice weekly in the fall term. Through regular guest-faculty presentations and discussions, the course will help orient you within the the topics and methods of study possible in the department. By the mid-term, you will be outlining and planning your own research project, and at the end of the term you will have the chance to present your preliminary plan for your first Junior Paper (JP) of 12-15 pages, which will be due on the first day of Wintersession. 

In the spring term, you will work together with a faculty adviser on a more extensive second JP of 20-25 pages, submitting it on the last day of spring classes.

vita vigilia est
To live is to be awake.
Pliny the Elder Natural History

Independent Work Guide

The Department has developed an Independent Work Guide (IWG) to help you as you begin to undertake independent work in the concentration. Please read through the IWG carefully for advice about how to choose a topic, how to conduct research in Classics, how to develop a good working relationship with your adviser, and how to go about writing the paper. The Guide also includes information about grading standards and deadlines.