Classics

The Department of Classics is world renowned for the study of the ancient Mediterranean world and its enduring legacy. While the discipline has traditionally centered on the languages, literature, and material culture of ancient Greece and Rome, Stanford Classics approaches this  rich field from a deeply interdisciplinary and global perspective.

Our faculty and students cross geographical, temporal, and thematic boundaries, examining how the ancient Mediterranean interacted with neighboring cultures and how those ancient systems continue to shape the modern world. Whether analyzing ancient epic poetry to re-examine modern cinema, using Athenian democracy to interrogate contemporary politics, or studying Roman imperial expansion alongside other global empires, the department demonstrates that the ancient world remains vital to understanding our shared human experience.

Academic and Degree Pathways

The Department of Classics offers rigorous, intellectually stimulating programs that train students in analytical reasoning, critical writing, and deep historical and linguistic analysis:

• Undergraduate Program (B.A. and Minor): Providing a comprehensive foundation in the classical world. Undergraduates can customize their major, choosing pathways that emphasize Classical Languages (Greek and Latin), Ancient History, or more generalized Classical Studies. The curriculum prepares students for diverse careers requiring exceptional language, communication, and cross-cultural skills, such as law, public policy, medicine, journalism, and education.

• Graduate Program (Ph.D.): A highly selective doctoral program that trains the next generation of leading classical scholars, researchers, and university educators. Graduate students engage in original independent research and work closely with world-renowned faculty to develop expertise in philology, ancient history, material culture, and critical theory.

Research Frontiers and Scholarly Inquiry

Classics at Stanford is distinguished by its pioneering research and its embrace of specialized, non-traditional subfields. Key areas of scholarly inquiry within the department include:

• Classical Languages and Philology: Investigating ancient Greek and Latin literature, drama, and philosophy from classical antiquity to late antiquity, tracing how texts were composed, transmitted, and received.

• Ancient History and Economics: Applying modern social science methodologies and quantitative analysis to reconstruct the economic systems, demographics, social structures, and legal frameworks of ancient societies.

• Classical Art and Archaeology: Exploring the material remains of the ancient world to understand everyday life, urban design, ritual practices, and artistic innovation across the Mediterranean basin.

• Epigraphy and Numsimatics: Deciphering and analyzing ancient documents providing direct insights into the lived experiences, administration, and cultures of the ancient past.

• History of Science: Examining the origins of scientific inquiry and mathematics in the ancient world and their evolution over centuries.