UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
DEPARTMENT OF THE CLASSICS
4080 FOREIGN LANGUAGES BUILDING
URBANA, IL 61801
REGULATIONS GOVERNING CANDIDATES
FOR ADVANCED DEGREES IN THE CLASSICS
I. GENERAL
a) Candidates for the Master’s degree (Stage I) are normally expected to complete all requirements
within two academic years of study.
b) Candidates for the Ph.D. degree (Stage II) are normally expected to complete all requirements for
admission to the Preliminary Examination within two to three years after admission to Stage II.
c) Candidates are expected to have completed all courses taken, including any with excused grades
(EX), before moving from Stage I to II or, II to III.
II. REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION
a) Submission of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores.
b) To the Master’s program (Stage I):
1) Twenty hours in one language and fifteen hours in the other language for admission to the
curriculum in Classics. Twenty hours in Greek OR Latin for admission to the curriculum in
that language.
2) At least six hours in one or more of the following: ancient history, ancient art and
archaeology, philosophy, literary criticism, or linguistics.
3) A grade point average of at least 3.00 in the last 60 hours of undergraduate work (2.75 will be
allowed in exceptional cases).
4) Deficiencies which can be filled within one year will not necessarily prevent admission, if the
record shows promise on other grounds.
c) To the Ph.D. program (Stage II):
1) M.A. in Classics, or the equivalent.
2) Evidence of the capacity to undertake and carry to completion guided independent reading
and research.
3) A 3.25 GPA in previous graduate work, and an undergraduate GPA as in b) 3 above.
4) Demonstrated reading knowledge of one ancillary language (German, French or Italian).
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III. REQUIREMENTS FOR DEGREES
a) M.A. in Classics in both Greek and Latin
1) Twenty-four hours of Greek and Latin in regular courses, Greek 411 and Latin 411, with at
least eight hours in each language and at least twelve graduate hours at the 500 level
(excluding 500-501).
2) CLCV 550 and four hours of an appropriate elective. Students who wish to do so may satisfy
this requirement by writing a Master’s thesis; they should enroll in Greek/Latin 599 (Thesis
Research).
3)
Satisfactory examinations in Greek and Latin; see below, IV.a.
b) M.A. in Classics with a specialization in Greek (Latin)
1) Twenty-four hours in Greek (Latin) in regular courses, including 411, with at least twelve
hours at the 500 level.
2) CLCV 550 and four hours of an appropriate elective. Students who wish to do so may satisfy
this requirement by writing a Master’s thesis; they should enroll in Greek/Latin 599 (Thesis
Research).
3) Satisfactory examination in Greek (Latin); see below, IV.a.
c) M.A. in the Teaching of Latin
1) Sixteen hours of Latin in regular courses, including 411, with at least twelve hours at the 500
level.
2) CLCV 550 and four hours of education courses.
3) Eight hours of appropriate electives.
d) Ph.D. in Classical Philology (Candidates are required to complete sixty-four graduate credit
hours beyond the M.A.)
1) Twenty-four credit hours of Greek and Latin, with at least eight hours in each language and at
least twenty hours at the 500 level. These must include Greek/Latin 595, if not taken
previously; Greek 511 and Latin 511; and four hours of 580 in each language.
2) CLCV 550 (if not taken previously) and four hours (or eight hours) of appropriate electives.
The remaining thirty-two hours may be satisfied by a combination of coursework and a
minimum of twelve hours of Thesis Research.
3) Passing the qualifying examinations and the oral Preliminary Examination (see below, IV.b.
1–6).
4) Dissertation. Students should enroll in Greek/Latin 599 (Thesis Research).
5) Passing the Final Examination (oral).
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6) Reading knowledge of two ancillary languages: a) German b) French or Italian. Knowledge
of one of these must be demonstrated at the time of admission to Stage II and the second by
the end of the second year at Stage II.
For a fuller description of the Graduate
http://courses.illinois.edu/cis/index.html
Programs
of
Study
in
Classics,
see:
IV. EXAMINATIONS
a) M.A. Language examination will consist of two passages from the M.A. Reading List (see
Appendix) and one passage not from the M.A. Reading List. Each passage will be between 80
and 120 words. The examination will last two hours. The passing grade is B- (2.75). A student
who fails the examination three times in succession will be dismissed.
b) Ph.D. examinations:
1) Greek translation: six passages, four of which will come from the Ph.D. Reading List (see
Appendix). Each passage will be between 80 and 120 words. Time: four hours.
2) Latin translation: six passages, four of which will come from the Ph.D. Reading List (see
Appendix). Each passage will be between 80 and 120 words. Time: four hours.
3) History of Greek literature: Time: three hours.
4) History of Latin literature: Time: three hours.
5) Special author: an author, or major part of an author. Time: three hours.
6) Preliminary Examination: oral, administered by the committee appointed by the Dean of the
Graduate College.
7) Final examination: oral, administered by the committee appointed by the Dean of the
Graduate College. Draft versions of each part of the dissertation should be available to
members of the committee as soon as possible. The final draft of the dissertation must be
submitted to the committee at least three weeks prior to the date set for the final examination.
The Chair of the Final Examination Committee must be a member of the Graduate Faculty.
The Final Examination Committee must be composed of at least four voting members,
including three current members of the Graduate Faculty and at least two tenured members of
the faculty. The committee should include faculty members from more than one area of
specialization in order to provide diversity in viewpoint, methodology, or academic
discipline. Non-voting members, such as an external reader, a member of the faculty who is
off campus, or others who can make a significant contribution to the research, may be
appointed. See also below V.d.
NOTE:
1) Students may take examinations 1–5 in whatever order they prefer.
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2) Examinations 1, 2 (languages), 3 and 4 (literatures) are evaluated by three members of the
department (at least two of them being members of the Graduate Committee) appointed by
the Chairman of the Graduate Committee and reporting the recommended grade to him/her,
who is responsible for determining the final grade. A minimum grade of B- (2.75) is required
for passing.)
3) Examination 5 (Special Author) is evaluated by a committee appointed by the candidate’s
advisor. The grade is either “Pass” or “Fail”; examinations graded “Pass” may also be
marked “with Distinction” or “with High Distinction”.
4) A student who fails an examination three times in succession or who fails four or more
different examinations in one year will be dismissed.
V. ADVISING
a) Newly admitted students will be advised for the first year by the Director of Graduate Study.
MAT students are also expected to consult the Latin Program Coordinator.
b) Stage I: Graduate students are considered to be in Stage I from initial enrollment in the
Graduate College to completion of a master’s degree (see above III.a-c and IV.a). New
students admitted at Stage I will be advised by the Director of Graduate Study. After the first
year, Stage I students will be advised by an advisor of the student’s choice, after consultation
with the Director of Graduate Study. This formal relationship must be documented by filing
a “Major Advisor Form” both with the Director of Graduate Study and with Graduate
Services. The advisor will be responsible for supervising the candidate’s progress towards
the degree. A student may change his/her advisor at any time by filing a new “Major Advisor
Form.”
c) Stage II: A doctoral student is considered to be in Stage II from completion of the master’s
degree to completion of all departmental requirements (see above III.d and IV.b.1-5), except
the defense and deposit of the dissertation, including passing the oral Preliminary
Examination (see above IV.b.6). New students directly admitted to Stage II will be advised
by the Director of Graduate Study. After the first year, they will be advised by a member of
the faculty of their choice, after consultation with the Director of Graduate Study. This
formal relationship must be documented by filing a “Major Advisor Form” both with the
Director of Graduate Study and with Graduate Services. The advisor will be responsible for
supervising the student’s work and for guiding him/her in preparing for the Preliminary
Examination. A student may change his/her advisor at any time by filing a new “Major
Advisor Form.”
d) Stage III: Stage III is the time from the completion of Stage II to passing the Final
Examination (see above IV.b.7) and depositing an approved dissertation. At a suitable time
before the Preliminary Examination, students will choose a Director of Dissertation Research
who will serve on the Preliminary Examination Committee. The Director of Dissertation
Research usually also serves as the Chair of the Dissertation Committee. If a member of
another department or unit is the Director of Dissertation Research, a member of the Classics
faculty will be appointed Chair of the Dissertation Committee. In consultation with the
Director of Graduate Study, a student may change his/her Director of Dissertation Research
at any time. Students are encouraged to consult with other members of the faculty in the
preparation of the dissertation.
Revised 05/09
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APPENDIX: READING LISTS
A. GREEK
M.A. Reading List
Ph.D. Reading List
[PRESUPPOSES M.A. READING LIST]
Homer
Iliad, Books 1, 6, 9, 24
Odyssey, Books 9-12
Homeric Hymns
Hesiod
Iliad, Books 2, 3, 16, 18, 21-23
Odyssey, Books 1, 5, 6, 19, 21, 23
Hymns 2, 3, 4
Theogony
Works and Days
Archilochus, Callinus, Tyrtaeus, Solon,
Sappho, Anacreon, Xenophanes, Simonides
Rest of Campbell’s Selection
Pindar
Olympian 1
Ol. 2, 7, 14; Py. 1, 4, 8, 10; Nem. 5,7
Aeschylus
Agamemnon
Prometheus Bound; Libation Bearers;
Eumenides
Sophocles
Oedipus Tyrannus
Antigone; Ajax
Euripides
Medea
Hippolytus; Bacchae
Aristophanes
Clouds
Lysistrata; Frogs
Herodotus
Book 1
Books 2 and 3
Thucydides
Books 1. 20-22 and 2. 1-65
Books 5. 84-116 and 6
Lysias
1 (On the Murder of Eratosthenes)
7 and 12
Greek
Lyric1
Isocrates
Panegyricus
Andocides
On the Mysteries
Demosthenes
Philippic 3
Xenophon
Olynthiac 1; De Corona
Hellenica 1; Memorabilia 1
Plato
Apology, Crito, Symposium
Republic 1, 10; Gorgias; Phaedrus
Aristotle
Poetics
Athenaion Politeia; Ethics 1
Menander
Dyskolos
Apollonius of Rhodes
Argonautica 3
Callimachus
Hymn 5 (On the Bath of Pallas)
Theocritus
Idyll 1 (Thyrsis)
Hopkinson’s selection2: all
Hellenistic poetry
Longus
Daphnis and Chloe, Book 1
Lucian
True Histories
Plutarch
Life of Romulus
Achilles Tatius
Leucippe and Clitophon, Book 1
1 Greek Lyric Poetry. A Selection of Early Greek Lyric, Elegiac and Iambic Poetry, edited with introduction by
D.A. Campbell (Bristol Classical Press 1982).
2 A Hellenistic Anthology, edited by N. Hopkinson (Cambridge U.P. 1988).
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B. LATIN
M.A. Reading List
Ph.D. Reading List
[PRESUPPOSES M.A. READING LIST]
Selection1
Early Latin
Plautus
Amphitryo
Terence
Adelphoe
Lucretius
Books 1 and 3
Catullus
All
Horace
Sat. 1, 1, 3-5, 8-10; Epod. 16;
Menaechmi
Book 5
Odes, Books 3 and 4
Odes 1; Ars Poetica
Vergil
Propertius
Eclogues 1 and 4; Georgics 4;
Eclogues 2-3 and 5-10; Georgics 1-3;
Aen 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 12
Aen 3, 5, 8-11.
Book 1
Book 4
Tibullus
Ovid
Book 1
Met. 10; Heroides 1, 12; Amores I
Met. 1 and 8; Ars 1; Fasti 4;
Tristia 1
Juvenal
Satires 1 and 3
Satires 6 and 10
Persius
Prologue; Satire 1
Lucan
Book 1
Statius
Silvae, Book 1
Martial
Book 1
Caesar
B.C. 1; B.G. 1
B.G. 7
Cicero
In Catil. 1; Pro Archia; Pro Caelio;
Orator; letters: rest of selection2;
De senectute; 10 letters1
Pro Milone; In Pisonem; Rep. 6
(Somnium Scipionis)
Sallust
Bellum Catilinae
Bellum Iugurthinum
Livy
Book 1
Books 21 and 22
Petronius
Cena Trimalchionis
Satyricon 91-112
Quintilian
Book 10
Seneca
Thyestes; De ira; Epist. Mor.3
Suetonius
Life of Nero
Pliny
5 letters4
Rest of selection4
Tacitus
Annales 1 & 6; Agricola
Annales 2; Histories 1; Dialogus
Apuleius
Met. 4. 28-6.24
Augustine
Confessions, Book 8
Medieval Latin
Selection5
7
1
The Annals of Q. Ennius, edited by O. Skutsch (Oxford 1985): fragments from books 1 and 7, and E.,
Courtney, Archaic Latin Prose (Atlanta, Ga: Scholars Press 1999).
2 Cicero. Select Letters, edited by D.R. Shackleton Bailey (Cambridge 1980): 1 (Att. 1. 5), 4 (Fam. 5. 1), 5
(Fam. 5. 2), 9 (Fam. 14. 2); 11 (Att. 4, 3), 15 (Fam. 5. 12), 16 (Att. 4, 10), 26 (Fam. 15, 1), 39 (Fam. 14. 7),
41 (Att. 11. 5).
3 Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, 2 vols. Edited by L.D. Reynolds (Oxford U.P. 1965): 5, 7-9, 10, 12, 18, 47,
70, 71, 88, 91.
4 Fifty Letters of Pliny, selected and edited by A.N. Sherwin-White (Oxford 1967): 6 (1. 13), 25 (6. 16), 40 (9.
36), 47-48 (10. 96-97).
5 K.C. Sidwell, Reading Medieval Latin (Cambridge U.P. 1995).
Revised December 2002