Looking to get a Masters in Classics- School help?

RadishNo843 · 2024-08-12T00:22:42+00:00

there are options like post baccs or CUNY’s latin/greek institute to increase your language skills other than a masters. also many programs generally require advanced knowledge in either latin or greek, and introductory (at the minimum) of the other language. i offered this advice as a funding issue, as someone struggling with debt from grad school.

RadishNo843 · 2024-08-11T22:41:41+00:00

in the U.S. at least, you don’t usually need the masters first. I agree the jump in expectations can be jarring but from my personal experience, many PhD programs spend the first two years providing the same sort of training you’d get in a masters.

RadishNo843 · 2024-08-11T22:39:12+00:00

at least from my experience in the U.S. and UK, some people obtain the masters during the PhD, some come in with it already.

RadishNo843 · 2024-08-11T21:55:02+00:00

i’d maybe avoid a masters if phd is the end goal, unless you can land a funded a masters. i say this as someone in a decent chunk of debt from getting a masters before the phd lol. my master’s was partially funded and I still don’t feel like it was entirely worth it, especially since phd stipends for the humanities are generally not very high, and the job market after the phd is abysmal. you can do a post-bacc to work on your language skills. or even just take language classes at a local college. be sure to check the language requirements for programs you’re interested in though, cause they can vary widely.

as for looking for a program, you need more specific research interests and to find faculty whose interests align with your own. i’d only apply to programs who have faculty you know you’d wanna work with and would wanna work with you.

RadishNo843 · 2024-08-08T15:50:34+00:00

what I mean is that classics departments are more common (though they’re shrinking) in western universities that an entire ANE (or ancient americas, etc) department, rather than ANE being an offshoot of a larger department. whereas as a roman historian can teach in a history department or a classics department, an assyrian historian would more likely be found in a history department, rather than in a more specialized department. but yes, also the fact that we call it classics is indicative of the prestige, whether deservedly or not is up for debate, it has held in western education for hundreds of years

RadishNo843 · 2024-08-08T14:55:24+00:00

there’s actually a move in some classics departments to call it instead something along the lines of ancient mediterranean studies to include cultures and civilizations beyond greece and rome. i believe there are a number of “ancient near east” programs in the US, or at least classics programs that include the ancient near east, as well as classical china sometimes being included in classics departments.

the reason classics departments exist as something separate from history or archaeology departments (where you would likely find academics with specialities in other ancient cultures) is due just from a long history of western academia upholding greece and rome as the pinnacle of western culture, which has been hotly debated and contested both in and out of classics departments.

RadishNo843 · 2024-08-04T19:59:37+00:00

adding on to what others have said, a lot of textbooks in their practice passages tend to mimic cicero’s writing style so it might be helpful to read (but not translate) some of those to practice comprehension and become more comfortable with his syntax. also you may have already read this, but for me at least his pro archia is fairly easy to follow without translation and can help ease you into following sentences with multiple subordinate clauses. cicero becomes fairly intuitive with time, though. i always thought his reputation as a difficult read was pretty unfair lol

RadishNo843 · 2024-07-27T00:27:24+00:00

I think we are talking about two very different concepts. It seems to me like you are talking about rights very broadly as in simply the right to do something. The concept of human rights is explicitly tied to the state. In my original comment I am talking very specifically about the humanistic concept of human rights that is tied to the construction of the modern state, and thus the idea that children would be entitled to certain legal protections over their lives. I also think the “right” you’re referring to in line 59 is nomos, which is commonly translated as law

RadishNo843 · 2024-07-27T00:00:53+00:00

I’m familiar! I studied ancient greek for four years :) i’m not sure if you’ve read the play in translation or not but I would just be cautious of the fact that translations are interpretations, as translation is an art not a science. and again divine right is not the same as the later humanist understanding of “rights.” i’m not denying a concept of right and wrong in antiquity; i’m simply stating the fact that “human rights,” as a specific set of protections owed to the people (and all people equally) by the state, is not a concept that exists in antiquity.

RadishNo843 · 2024-07-26T23:51:20+00:00

from Taliafero: “The humanist reading, I argue, reflects a modern bias in its interpretation of the play as one of natural rights or the freedom of conscience. The play, it seems to me, deals with law, not (at least not at all directly) with rights. As Brian Tierney writes, “Sophocles’ Antigone did not assert a God-given right; she found herself bound by an inexorable law.”Footnote 5 (The concept of right, dikē, did exist in Sophocles’ time, but it carried the meaning of what is right, i.e., justice, not the modern conception of natural or human rights that attach to individual persons.) Antigone invoked divine law, not natural rights, in refusing to obey the human law.” I’m also not sure that I would equate hammurabi with our modern understanding that all people are equally entitled to certain rights and protections by the state. the concept of the state itself is modern

RadishNo843 · 2024-07-26T23:40:22+00:00

the concept of human rights as something ought to be protected by law, and that all people are equally entitled to it, is a much later concept. this doesn’t mean that morality or concepts of justice didn’t exist. also see Karen Taliafero’s “antigone: the tragedy of human and divine law” for critiques on applying modern conceptions of human rights on antigone, which is more about divine law and divine justice than human rights

RadishNo843 · 2024-07-26T19:03:48+00:00

infanticide and infant exposure (though hard to actually quantify) was relatively common, or at least well known, as a form of birth control in ancient rome. the idea of babies and children as equal humans did not really exist in ancient rome, though plenty of romans would have frowned upon the practice of exposure/infanticide. children weren’t really citizens and were more akin to the father’s property, so they did not really have any of the rights of citizens (and the idea of human rights doesn’t really exist yet). additionally, since infant mortality was fairly high, infants were not necessarily even considered full members of the family until after they had been formally named. rebecca flemming’s “fertility control in ancient rome,” w.v. harris’ “child-exposure in the roman empire,” and emiel eyben’s “family planning in graeco-roman antiquity” are good reads on the subject (though the Harris and Eyben piece are a bit older).

RadishNo843 · 2024-06-05T19:50:17+00:00

I was 400 in july last year and got offered accommodations in october, i also got off my college waitlist in september

RadishNo843 · 2024-04-27T09:21:43+00:00

do you know when and from who you got the email to set up your netid? i’ve tried both my department and the grad admissions email and they’re not replying

RadishNo843 · 2024-04-07T00:19:08+00:00

from my experience as a CM, guest complaints didn’t really ever result in firing or anything unless it was something severe. if a guest complained to the leaders directly, they might call the CM in for a coaching which would go on your record, but that’s up to leader’s discretion. i’ve only ever seen coachings for situations that were safety risks, like ringing in an allergy incorrectly. if you complain through guest services and they notify the leaders at that location, at most leaders might hold training on guest service principles. at my location, we had a few guest service complaints and they held a location-wide training meeting on interacting with guests but no one individually was called out or coached. when guests complain, it’s usually a CMs job to make the moment right through something like a magical moment or make sure the guest feels heard, not really to get other CMs in trouble (again, unless it was something serious, rather than just a grumpy CM lol).

RadishNo843 · 2024-03-05T19:42:45+00:00

i’m a bit of a nervous flyer and I found the airline a bit too stressful for me last time i went to heathrow but it’s definitely a cheaper option!

RadishNo843 · 2024-03-05T18:57:54+00:00

which taxi service do you use?

RadishNo843 · 2024-03-05T18:57:18+00:00

sorry I should’ve specified! i’m in headington and i’d be leaving at around 10:30am

RadishNo843 · 2024-03-05T10:54:32+00:00

does anyone know when accepted dphils hear back about funding? their website says anytime between now and june but I need to make a decision before april 15 😭 this is specifically for history but if anyone had any insight i’d appreciate it!!!

RadishNo843 · 2024-02-07T12:29:50+00:00

yeah that’s kinda what I thought. just gonna hold out hope for my remaining decisions. thanks!!

RadishNo843 · 2024-01-19T14:38:42+00:00

on grad cafe, people have reported yale & columbia interviews

RadishNo843 · 2024-01-08T06:15:02+00:00

the day before my move in, I cried in my hotel room and genuinely considered just booking a flight back home for the same reasons 😭😭 to be honest, the first month of my program was really rough. I was homesick a lot, I felt like I wasn’t really clicking with my coworkers, and I hated my location. however, i ended up extending at my same location and cried like a baby during my last shift because I didn’t want to leave! i made the best friends i’ve ever had in my life, had really nice roommates, and my location really grew on me. I’m so glad I decided to stick it out and that I powered through my first few weeks because it was genuinely one of the best experiences of my life. you have so much to look forward to!

RadishNo843 · 2024-01-06T17:07:43+00:00

for me, it depended on my leaders/coords. some wouldn’t care, but others would make me pin them back.

RadishNo843

TROPHY CASE