WE VALUE a student-centered curriculum with a face-to-face learning community of students and faculty.

UNIT MISSION STATEMENT

What is the Department of Classics’ reason for being?

Classics is the interdisciplinary study of ancient Greece and Rome. Student-centered and inquiry-based, the program in Classics fosters the continual exploration of and critical inquiry into the living traditions and legacies of the Greco-Roman world.

Classics faculty are highly qualified specialists in their respective fields who:

• Contribute teaching to the program in Classics and other programs, including General Education and Honors;
• Pursue active and well-articulated research agendas;
• Offer leadership and service to the Department, to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies, to the University, and to the profession and the community.

VISION

What is the desired future for the Department of Classics?

We provide a student-centered, high quality program with a focus upon the classical languages and upon encountering the classical world through primary sources, both textual and material. Through this work, we will enlarge the state of knowledge in the field and contribute to the broader community by:

• Continuously improving the current quality of instruction and maintaining a state of the art curriculum (Goal One);
• Enhancing opportunities for student learning and professional development (Goal Two);
• Enhancing and expanding professional development and scholarship opportunities for current and future faculty (Goal Three);
• Being a committed partner and an effective voice in the promotion and development of classical studies locally, regionally, and nationally (Goal Four).

VALUES

What are the core values that guide the Department of Classics?

Overarching values

• We value Classics for:
  • The historical importance of the discipline as the source and origin of the liberal arts;
  • Its enduring relevance at the heart of a liberal education in:
    • Making students aware of their own cultural and historical assumptions through various methods of inquiry;
    • Preparing citizens whose choices are informed by long-term perspectives.
• We value this University’s commitment to inclusion and equity with respect to:
  • The material that we teach, which poses urgent and enduring questions about what it means to live as a human being and to realize one’s human potential;
  • The individuals whose lives we touch;
  • The collegial, welcoming, and student-centered environment we aim to create, in which every door is an open door and every voice is encouraged and empowered to speak.

Values related to Goal One: Aspirations for the program and curriculum in Classics

• We value the interdisciplinary nature of Classics and emphasize direct exposure to primary sources, both textual and material.
• We value rigorous training, to a high degree of proficiency, in the diverse methods of inquiry and in the particular areas of study that comprise Classics, including Greco-Roman civilization and material culture, history, art, philosophy, society, literature, and languages.
• We value helping students develop an understanding of the classical tradition and how the ‘thoughts and fancies’ of antiquity are familiar to us and at the same time radically removed from our world.

Values related to Goal Two: Aspiration for students

• We value a student-centered curriculum with a face-to-face learning community of students and faculty.
• We invest in the success of our students by taking a proactive approach in making them aware of opportunities which equip them to succeed, particularly in the areas of undergraduate research and professional development.

Values related to Goal Three: Aspirations for faculty

• We value highly qualified, full-time, permanent faculty who teach a state-of-the-art curriculum.
• We value expanding opportunities and resources for faculty research, scholarship, and development.
• We value high levels of teaching effectiveness as demonstrated by student achievement.

Values related to Goal Four: Aspirations for effectiveness in the university, the profession, and the community

• We value making connections through collaboration and the sharing of resources between Classics and other faculty, students, and programs in the university and beyond it.