This is a two-year programme, designed to provide graduates with in-depth study of a range of areas within the field of Classics, and with the skills necessary for carrying out research in one or more classical disciplines. The study of ancient Greek or Latin is compulsory in the first year, and may be continued in the second; prior knowledge of the language is not required.

In this programme the Maynooth University Department of Ancient Classics offers Greek and Latin at both introductory and higher levels, and a wide range of topics on a variety of aspects of classical Antiquity (literary, historical, philosophical), which students investigate and discuss in seminars under the guidance of academic staff. The Department has an excellent reputation both inside and outside Ireland, and while each staff member is active in research, the size of the Department allows for more personal attention to students’ needs than is sometimes possible in larger departments. A general aim is to produce graduates who are flexible, creative, openminded, critically aware, and articulate - qualities known to be fostered by studying Classics.

Course Structure

In the first year, all candidates include in their programme modules in Greek or Latin; normally these will be at the introductory level, though modules at higher levels will be prescribed for candidates who already possess introductory-level qualifications. Further language modules may be taken (and are taken by most candidates) in the second year of study. Candidates also take a number of 'non-language' modules from a range which currently includes:

GC634 Literature and Learning in the Second Century AD: Apuleius and His Contemporaries
GC637 Herodotus and his World
GC641 Popular Culture in Classical Athens
GC645 Judaea from Herod to Hadrian
GC647 Late Antiquity: the Classical World in Transition
GC648 Greek and Roman Letters: Epistolography of the Ancient World

Please note that modules are subject to change.

Candidates are also required to write a dissertation of 15,000-20,000 words on a topic approved by the Head of the Department of Ancient Classics under the supervision of a designated supervisor.

Career Options

Successful completion of the MA at a high level, with an appropriate degree of competence in a classical language, will normally equip students to proceed to study for a PhD, a necessary qualification for an academic career. In addition, employers across a wide range of professions (for example, education, journalism, law, politics, publishing, business) value highly the wide range of intellectual abilities which an MA in a classical subject develops.