Director of Studies: Dr Caroline Vout 

Other Fellows in Classics:
Professor David Sedley
Dr Hannah Willey

Number of students admitted each year: 4 - 6

University Website: http://www.classics.cam.ac.uk/

A Day in the Life of a Christ's Classics student (opens in new window) 

Introduction

A degree in Classics gives students the tools to examine the art, architecture, literature and philosophy of peoples who lived over 2,000 years ago. Western literature, political structures, sculpture and cityscapes would look very different without the influence of Greece and Rome. We are in constant dialogue with our past.  The field of Classics is expanding as archaeologists find new artefacts for us to study. Existing evidence is also being re-assessed as we draw on approaches from related fields such as Film Theory and Gender Studies.

Christ's at most times has at least three Classical fellows: two who are permanent, and a Junior Research Fellow (see below under Classics at Christ's). Caroline Vout is a University Senior Lecturer whose teaching and research embrace Latin language and literature, ancient art and its reception, and Roman history. She has also been one of the Classics Faculty's Access and Outreach Officers. David Sedley is the University's Professor of Ancient Philosophy and teaches our undergraduates philosophy and Greek. Hannah Willey is a Greek historian who teaches our undergraduates ancient history. Between them, the college's three fellows in Classics cover a large chunk of the syllabus. They also take students on site visits (e.g. to museums and galleries), and host Classics socials. Christ's currently has undergraduates on both the University's three-year and four-year courses (see below), as well as postgraduates (MPhil and PhD). This makes for a varied and stimulating community.

Many of those who have been part of this community at undergraduate and graduate level now teach classical subjects at universities worldwide. These include Peter Agocs (University College, London), Gabor Betegh (Budapest), George Boys-Stones (Durham), Mark Buchan (Columbia), Tim Duff (Reading), Jonathan Edmondson (York University, Canada), Manuel Baumbach (Bochum),  Reviel Netz (Stanford) and William Turpin (Swarthmore). In addition to these, the scholars JN Adams (Oxford), David Butterfield (Queen’s College, Cambridge), Tim Cornell (Manchester), Michael Clarke (Maynooth), Cynthia Farrar (Yale), Vedia Izzet (Southampton), David Johnston (who later became Regius Professor of Civil Law at Cambridge), Margaret Atkins (scholar of Cicero and Augustine), Angela Hobbs (Sheffield), Giles Pearson (Bristol), Polly Lowe (Manchester), Michael Squire (King’s College, London) and Greg Woolf (St Andrews) were all formerly classical Research Fellows at the College.

The University Course

At Cambridge, Classics is not just studied as a period set in the past, but with a view to how classical culture, language and philosophy have affected the history of civilisation in the West right up to the present. Historically Cambridge has long been a major centre for the study of the classical world. Today its Faculty of Classics is recognised internationally as one of the most dynamic departments of its kind, with an exceptionally distinguished record in teaching and research. Being one of the longest-established faculties, it also has substantial funds, which enable it to make generous provision for undergraduate prizes and bursaries, and grants for travel to Greece and Italy.

The Faculty offers two undergraduate courses, the 3-year course for those students with an A-level or equivalent in Latin and/or Greek, and the 4-year course for those who have not had the opportunity to study either Latin or Greek to this level at school or those who for some reason did not take these subjects at A-level but now feel that they want to study Classics at Cambridge. As they progress through both courses, students have an increasingly flexible series of options so that they can either specialise in a particular field within Classics or retain the breadth of perspective with which the course starts. Throughout the course, and especially in Part II, they are able to develop an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the classical world. During Part I, they have an average of 12 Faculty lectures a week, together with language classes (as appropriate). They also have at least two College supervisions a week in which their work is discussed. This might include essays, practical criticism of Greek and Latin authors, or translation and composition. In Part II they may have Faculty seminars as well as lectures, while a less intensive College supervision programme gives them the opportunity to research essay topics and a dissertation of their own choice independently and in greater depth.

For more information, please see the Faculty's website

Classics at Christ's

Every student at Cambridge must be a member of one or other of the 29 Colleges for undergraduates of the University. The course content, lectures and examinations are the responsibility of the University's Faculty of Classics, and are the same for every student reading Classics at Cambridge regardless of their college. Lectures are given in the Faculty of Classics on the Sidgwick Site, approximately 10-15 minutes walk from Christ's. Some classes are also taught in the Faculty's Museum of Classical Archaeology, which can be found on the first floor of the Faculty building.

Colleges are responsible for the selection and admission of undergraduates, the provision of social facilities such as accommodation, and ongoing personal and academic support. Every college has a Director of Studies in Classics, part of whose job is to advise students in their choice of options and to arrange supervisions for them. Supervisions are tutorial teaching sessions in small groups, and are one of the major advantages of a Cambridge education, providing individually tailored help and tuition. They offer a more directed and relevant approach to a student’s own work than is possible at most other universities, where similar material can only be covered in example classes involving much larger numbers of students. Each College makes its own arrangements for supervisions.

Carrie Vout is a University Senior Lecturer in Classics and a teaching fellow of the College. She has also been one of the Faculty's Access and Outreach Officers, regularly giving schools talks, speaking at Sixth-Form Days, and working with the media (she has been interviewed on television and radio programmes such as Woman's Hour and In Our Time ). She has written for The Observer, The Times Literary Supplement, Apollo, History Today, The Burlington and Minerva. She has published on a wide range of themes connected with Roman literary and visual culture (see e.g. Power and Eroticism in Imperial Rome, 2007, The Hills of Rome: Signature of an Eternal City, 2012 and, with Helen Lovatt, Epic Visions: Visuality in Greek and Latin Epic and its Receptions, all Cambridge University Press, and Sex on Show: Seeing the Erotic in Greece and Rome, 2013, The British Museum Press/University of California Press) and edits Omnibus, the Cambridge Classical Journal and the French Art-History journal, Perspective. She has recently been involved in an AHRC-funded project to re-display the Greek and Roman antiquities at the Fitzwilliam Museum, and has just returned to teaching after being awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize. She is on the Committee of the Cambridge Greek Play and the Classical Association and is the Chair of the Criticos Prize.

David Sedley is the University's Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy. He supervises for the college on a regular basis, principally in ancient philosophy. He has in the past frequently served as its Director of Studies in Classics. His books include one on Lucretius and two on Plato, and his most recent is the published version of his Sather Lectures (delivered in 2004 at the University of California, Berkeley) on the theme Creationism and its Critics in Antiquity. He frequently gives talks or runs weekend courses for the public, on ancient philosophy and science. He has also written for Omnibus and appeared on Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time on BBC Radio 4, most recently on Socrates.

The W. H. D. Rouse Research Fellowship, which in most years provides the College with an additional classical fellow, is held by Hannah Willey, giving Christ's three fellows in Classics. Hannah's research interests cover all aspects of Greek religion and society. Within Christ's, she teaches Greek and Roman history. She has recently received her doctorate for her work on the relationship between law and religion in the Archaic and Classical city-state and is now embarking on her next research project, which will focus on ancient Greek cult foundations and their tellings and retellings from the Archaic through to the Roman period.

Christ's has its own Classics Society, which organises talks by visiting speakers and social events. Students with interests beyond Classics may also attend almost any other lectures in the University; many members of the University take advantage of this in order to learn or improve a foreign language. In some cases it may be possible to use this study to gain a formal qualification (Certificate or Diploma) in a foreign language (e.g. modern Greek) in addition to a student’s degree. There are also many academic societies in Cambridge which arrange talks that may be of interest to students of Classics [e.g. the undergraduate-run, Herodoteans]. For those keen to do some acting, there is also the Cambridge Greek play which is regularly directed by a professional director and attracts audiences from all over the country. It is produced once every three years, so that everyone has the opportunity to take part in it during their time as an undergraduate.

College Facilities

Christ's is distinctive amongst the Cambridge Colleges. It offers strong tutorial support to its students as they pursue their academic work, and is able to offer accommodation for three years to all of its undergraduates. The College also provides a modern library, a theatre, sporting facilities, playing fields, social activities and clubs and societies open to all. More information can be found here.

How to Apply

In addition to nominating Cambridge as one of your selected universities on the UCAS application form, it is also desirable to choose a College of preference (the alternative is to submit an Open Application and allow a College preference to be chosen for you by computer). This can appear to add to the complexity of applying to Cambridge, but in reality the option of stating your particular College preference increases the control which you have over your own application. Many criteria can be used for choosing a College of preference, including such factors as location, architecture and accommodation, and academic, musical or sporting reputation. If you are able to visit Cambridge (preferably on a College Open Day) you may get a better idea of the location, atmosphere and facilities of various Colleges.

Christ's College does not have fixed quotas of places for different subjects and the exact numbers admitted in any one year will depend upon the strengths of the fields of applicants in various subjects. However, the College's aim is to admit between 4 and 6 students each year in Classics. Details of how to apply can be found on the Faculty of Classics website or on the College website under Admissions. Christ's asks its Classics applicants to supply a sample of written work on a related topic as part of their admissions package.

Interviews are held in early December: applicants will usually have two academic interviews at Christ's and a third at another college. The Christ's interviews will cover a range of topics based on the submitted work and application form (e.g. set-texts, wider reading, personal statement). For those applying for the three-year course, one of the interviews will also test their language skills by asking them to translate with help, as needed, a short passage of Latin (or Greek, if appropriate). Those applying for the four-year course will have their language-aptitude tested outside of their college-interviews in an additional Faculty-organised test and interview.

Entry requirements are likely to be A*AA at A-level, or equivalent grades in other systems, although the precise terms of each offer are assessed individually. A final point worth making is that we only make offers that we believe candidates have a realistic chance of achieving. Our aim is to admit the best students regardless of their background. In recent years Classics at Christ's has tended, on average, to have between a 2:1 and 3:1 applicant: acceptance ratio.

Application information and further details can be found here.

Further Information

If you are able to come to a College Open Day, we will be glad to tell you more about the College and the course in person. If you are not able to come, we will be happy to answer any queries you may have that are not covered by the normal literature. Please address any such enquiries to the Admissions Tutor, Christ's College, Cambridge, CB2 3BU, or by e-mail to admissions@Christ's.cam.ac.uk.
Queries related specifically to Classics can also be directed to Dr Vout on cv103@cam.ac.uk