For Students

General Guidelines for Students in Classics Courses

Classics courses at the 100 level include beginning Greek, Hebrew and Latin. These courses are open to all students and can be used to meet the Foreign Language requirement in the General Education curriculum. The Classics department also offers new students the opportunity to take LSIC freshman colloquium courses.  Classics courses at the 200 level include intermediate Greek and Latin, and a classical civilization course on Mythology. Classics courses above the 200 level include a wide range of classical civilization courses and advanced Greek and Latin courses, in which students read classical texts in the original language. We often offer a LSIC 379 course for transfer students. Students can also obtain credit for independent reading and undergraduate research under the supervision of a faculty member. Classics majors take competency exams and write a thesis in their senior year.

Student Absences

Faculty members in the Classics Department recognize that unexpected occasions may arise when a student must be absent from class. Specific absence policies will be developed by each faculty member and stated in course syllabi, but in general you should expect the following policy: Three absences will be allowed in Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes; Two absences will be allowed in Tuesday-Thursday classes; One absence only will be permitted for classes that meet once a week. Students remain responsible for all material covered in missed classes, including reading assignments, announcements and changes of schedules. Should any further unexcused absences occur, however, the instructor has the option of lowering the final course grade by some percentage. Failure to attend class in a responsible and committed manner may thus be grounds for failure in the course.

Plagiarism

Students must abide by the Academic Honesty policies found in the Student Handbook.

Required Reading for Students in 200-400 level courses

Students develop critical thinking and writing skills in the upper level classical civilization and Greek and Latin language courses.To help students get the most benefit from these courses, the department requires that students read the  guidelines on writing papers in Classics courses that the department makes available as needed.

The Classics Major: What to Expect Your Senior Year

Students begin preparations for their final year of study during the junior year. No later than the spring semester of the junior year, students decide on a topic for their senior thesis, and write a first draft of a prospectus for the faculty to consider. The topic is often an expansion of a paper written for a class, or an extension of an undergraduate research project. A guide to the senior thesis is required reading for all majors, and is made available through the Classics department at the appropriate time.

Competency Exams and Orals

Near the end of their last semester, majors demonstrate their competency in Greek and/or Latin through 4 hours of written exams. Majors with concentration in Classical Studies take one translation exam in either Greek or Latin. Majors with concentrations in Greek take three exams on Greek texts; those concentrating in Latin, on three Latin texts; and those concentrating in Greek and Latin translate three texts from Greek and Latin authors. If possible, passages should represent both prose and poetry. Dictionaries are permitted, though a Homeric dictionary is not allowed for Homer exams. Translation passages come from the courses that majors have taken. Several weeks before the exams, majors will be asked to turn in the list of the courses they have taken in the respective languages to the department chair, indicating their preferences, if any. Majors may also request an unseen passage of the department’s choice. All competency exams will be given on the same day, if possible. Exams will be graded quickly so that those needing to retake one or more exams may be notified very soon.

Major concentrations in Greek, Latin, and Greek and Latin also take a one hour essay exam on some aspect of Classical culture. Majors in Classical Studies take three essay exams. The subjects for these essay exams are derived from the work students have done in classes and from the readings from the reading list. Majors will be asked to submit 4 or 5 subject areas about which they would like to answer questions, and the faculty will take these into account.

Majors also have a one-hour oral examination on the content of the thesis completed for CLAS 495, and more broadly on the literature, history and culture of the ancient world. The broader questions will be based on student readings of the reading list and in courses over the course of the major and majors and shaped by the subject areas submitted by each student.

Departmental Distinction and Honors

The Classics Department can recognize its graduates with an award of departmental distinction. Distinction is based on the following criteria:

• A 3.5 minimum GPA in the major
• Performance over the student’s entire career will be taken into account when we make our recommendations for awarding departmental distinction, and a student judged worthy of departmental distinction will have consistently have contributed well in oral class work and produced articulate and well-researched written work that reveals a clear and sophisticated understanding of the material under discussion. Since the Senior Thesis is the culmination of your studies here, a Senior Thesis that conforms to these specifications is a sine qua non of being awarded Departmental Distinction. We may also designate some theses as Theses of Distinction, but this in itself does not guarantee Departmental Distinction if, in the opinion of the majority of the department, general performance does not warrant it.
• Evidence of enthusiasm and talent which goes beyond taking the bare minimum of courses for the major (though student circumstances will be taken into account in determining eligibility on this criterion). Such evidence may include:

   

  1. the successful accomplishment of extra electives in Classics.
  2. presentation of a project of undergraduate research outside the department (e.g. at NCUR, UNC Asheville’s Symposia or some other conference).
  3. entry to graduate school in Classics (or potential for such, as determined by the department) or some other academic award, such as a Fulbright scholarship.