1. Handbook
  2. Bachelor of Arts (Degree with Honours)
  3. Specialisation (Formal)
  4. Ancient World Studies
  5. Print

Ancient World Studies

Bachelor of Arts (Degree with Honours)Specialisation (formal)Year: 2025

You’re viewing the 2025 Handbook:
Or view archived Handbooks

Overview

The specialisation of Ancient World Studies is unavailable for combined honours.

Ancient World Studies embraces the broad study of Classical Greece and Rome, as well as Egypt and the Near East from 3000 BCE to the 4th century CE. Students can choose a variety of subject streams, which combine the study of ancient languages and/or texts in translation such as myth, literature, history, and philosophy with the study of archaeology, art, and architectural monuments. In addition, students can focus on a particular time period, geographic region, technical specialisation such as myth or ceramics, or thematic area of study. Students will gain insight into and understanding of contemporary society by exploring how ancient cultures have contributed to the development of our modern world, with regard to gender and ethnic identity, warfare, colonialism and imperialism, the propagandistic power of literary and visual imagery, and technology and economy. They will develop skills in research, writing, analysis, and communication that promote career flexibility.

The Honours program is an advanced level of study designed to allow students to specialise their knowledge in a particular area of study. Applicants should have completed a major in Ancient World Studies, or Classics (Ancient Greek and Latin), with an average of at least H2A (75%) in second and third-year subjects within the major, or equivalent. Classics (Ancient Greek and Latin) majors who studied only one of the classical languages (but not both) are encouraged to apply for the Ancient World Studies honours specialisation and enrol in the honours seminars in the language that they have studied. The opportunity to specialise provides a strong foundation for the future direction of graduates, whether as a means of progressing to higher degree research in Arts at the Masters or PhD level, or improving the scope of employment options and professional advancement. Students with Honours from The University of Melbourne (Arts) record exceptionally high rates of satisfaction with the professional and academic directions they pursue beyond graduation.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this specialisation, students should be able to:

  • Demonstrate knowledge of the literary and material culture in ancient Mediterranean civilisations, including Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, the Bronze Age, Greece, and Rome
  • Display critical skills and methodologies (including historical, literary, and archaeological) for the analysis of ancient cultures
  • Communicate their own ideas and interpretations of ancient texts and artefacts, both orally and in writing
  • Demonstrate advanced training in archaeological theory and practice
  • Understand modern critical frameworks for the study of the ancient world
  • Develop and sustain an argument based on research.

Last updated: 14 January 2025

Structure

100 credit points

Students undertaking pure honours in Ancient World Studies must complete:

  • Ancient World Studies Thesis (50 points), consisting of subjects ANCW40016 Ancient World Studies Thesis Part 1 and ANCW40017 Ancient World Studies Thesis Part 2; and
  • ANCW40014 Research in Ancient World Studies (12.5 points); and
  • Three elective subjects (37.5 points)

The specialisation of Ancient World Studies is unavailable for combined honours.

Total 100 points

 

Subject Options

Thesis

Note: the thesis requires two consecutive semesters of enrolment.

Code Name Study period Credit Points
ANCW40016 Ancient World Studies Thesis Part 1
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
 25
ANCW40017 Ancient World Studies Thesis Part 2
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
 25

Compulsory Subject

Code Name Study period Credit Points
ANCW40014 Research in Ancient World Studies
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
 12.5

Electives

Code Name Study period Credit Points
ANCW40003 Archaeology of Complex Societies
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
 12.5
ANCW40012 The Roman Way of Life Not available in 2025 12.5
ANCW40001 Euripides, Seneca, and Mythmaking Not available in 2025 12.5
ANCW40007 Problems in Greek Prehistory Not available in 2025 12.5
ANCW40018 The Roman Countryside Not available in 2025 12.5
ANCW40015 Gender and Sexuality in Greece and Rome
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
 12.5
ANCW40019 Frontiers of the Greek World Not available in 2025 12.5
ANCW40020 Internship in Ancient World Studies
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
 12.5
CLAS40038 Ancient Greek Honours Seminar 1
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
 6.25
CLAS40039 Ancient Greek Honours Seminar 2
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
 6.25
CLAS40040 Latin Honours Seminar 1
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
 6.25
CLAS40041 Latin Honours Seminar 2
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
 6.25
ERTH90062 Introduction to Archaeological Science Not available in 2025 12.5

Students may take two of the following:

Code Name Study period Credit Points
CLAS40038 Ancient Greek Honours Seminar 1
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
 6.25
CLAS40039 Ancient Greek Honours Seminar 2
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
 6.25
CLAS40040 Latin Honours Seminar 1
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
 6.25
CLAS40041 Latin Honours Seminar 2
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
 6.25

Links

http://shaps.unimelb.edu.au/students/honours

Last updated: 14 January 2025