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Classics › requirements

The Classical Studies Major (BA)

The Classical Studies Major can be fulfilled with ten courses.

I.  Two semesters of Latin or Greek at a level appropriate to the student’s preparation.
II. Eight Classical Studies courses.  Courses in Greek and Latin beyond those required in I. (above) may be substituted for up to two of the required Classical Studies courses.  With  departmental approval, two of these courses may be from an allied department. 
III. At least five courses taken to fulfill the major requirements must be at the 300 level.
IV. Capstone paper. For further information please see the chair of the department.

The Classical Languages Major (BA)

The Classical Studies Major can be fulfilled with twelve courses.

I. Ten courses in Greek and/or Latin.
II. Any two classical studies (Clsics) courses, or two additional courses in classical language.
III. At least four of the courses taken for the major must be at the 300 level.
IV. Capstone paper. For further information please see the chair of the department.

The Minor in Classical Studies

Students majoring in another discipline may wish to deepen and enrich their understanding by minoring in a classical studies. A total of six courses must be taken to complete the minor program of study.

I. Six Classics courses, of which no more than two may be at the 100 level, and at least two must be at the 300 level.
II. Latin or Greek language courses may be substituted for up to two of the required six Classics  courses.  Lat 101 or Grk 101 may be counted only if the second semester of the elementary sequence (Lat 102 or Grk 102) has also been taken.
III. With departmental approval, one of the six courses may be taken in an allied department.

The Minor in Classical Languages

Students majoring in another discipline may wish to deepen and enrich their understanding by minoring in a classical language (Latin or Greek). These students must take a total of six courses to complete the minor program of study.

I. At least five courses in one of the classical languages.
II. A sixth course, which may be in either classical language or classical studies. If taken in the student's non-primary classical language, this course must be at or above the level of Latin or Greek 102.
III Two of the six courses taken for the minor must be at the 300 level.

General Policies for the Majors and Minors
Pass/Fail Policy

No course with a grade below a C- may count toward the major; however, one 100-level language course may be taken pass/fail. Majors must maintain a GPA of at least 2.0 in all courses.

Honors

Departmental honors candidates must have an overall average of 3.0 and a departmental average of 3.5. The program consists of two semesters of work undertaken in the candidate’s senior year and culminating in a senior honors thesis (Clsics 490-491, Grk 490-491, Lat 490-491).

Transfer Policy

All courses in Latin and Greek at the 100-200 level at post-secondary institutions are transferable; Latin and Greek courses at the 300 level are transferable with departmental permission. At least three language courses at the 200-300 level must be taken at UMass Boston. All courses in classics (not given in the original language) at post-secondary institutions are transferable, courses of this kind that have no exact equivalent at UMass Boston are transferable with departmental permission. At least five of the courses counted toward the major (including at least two at the 300 level) or four of the courses counted toward the minor must be taken at UMass Boston. For the classical studies minor, at last one 300-level and two other classics courses must be taken at UMass Boston.