From its earliest days, Bryn Mawr has had an international reputation in classical languages. It offered doctorates in classical philology to women long before universities in the Old World were allowing them to receive undergraduate degrees. Today, the College is home to a lively community of graduate students, both women and men, who are interested in various aspects of the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome; and its name is known to classicists worldwide through the Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
At Bryn Mawr, our focus has always been on the precise study of ancient texts. Our close association with the graduate departments of History of Art and of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology helps students to interrogate the relationships between these texts and the material culture of the ancient world. The three departments work together as The Graduate Group in Archaeology, Classics and History of Art.
Within the Department of Classics, our specialized expertise ranges widely: from Greek magic to Latin late antiquity; from Greek vases to Roman archaeology. (For further details, see faculty profiles)
Study at Bryn Mawr
Classes are small, affording close contact with faculty. The weekly Classics Colloquium provides an opportunity to mingle informally with faculty and hear talks by prominent scholars. All students in the The Graduate Group have carrels in the beautiful Carpenter library: this affords further opportunities for informal contact across the disciplines.
As for courses: in addition to seminars here, students may take classes at the nearby University of Pennsylvania, and, by special arrangement, at Princeton. The department also regularly brings in associated faculty from neighboring institutions to offer seminars in important areas of scholarly specialization outside those of our faculty.
Study Abroad
In support of its commitment to studying literary and historical texts in their cultural as well as literary contexts, the Department offers two fellowships each year toward summer study in Italy or Greece, preferably at the American Academy in Rome or the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. These fellowships were established in honor of Professor Emerita Mabel Lang, whose own work forms a palmary example of this approach. The fellowships are normally reserved for students who will complete the M.A. degree in the academic year preceding the summer in which they plan to go abroad.
Resources
Bryn Mawr's Classics collection, housed in the newly built Rhys Carpenter library, is one of the best in the country. Fully-wired study carrels are reserved for all Classics graduate students; and there is access to electronic resources such as
Further resources are available in the Mariam Coffin Canaday Library, notably an exceptional collection of over 1200 incunables (printed books published before 1500), which are readily available to interested students.
As part of the Tri-College community, everyone has easy access to the collections of Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges: there is a combined electronic catalog, Tripod, and books ordered from the other collections arrive on the Bryn Mawr campus within hours.
Bryn Mawr is also home of the Bryn Mawr Classical Review, an electronic book-review journal which is received by 6000 subscribers worldwide.
Fellowships and Scholarships
Fellowships are generally offered for one year and may be extended for up to four years, contingent upon satisfactory progress. Advanced students are eligible for Travel Fellowships, Teaching Assistantships, and Whiting Fellowhips for completion of the dissertation. Senior graduate students of exceptional promise are sometimes given the opportunity to design and teach a course as part of a funding package. Tuition grants are also available. For more information please go to: http://www.brynmawr.edu/gsas/prospective_students/financialaid.shtml
Applications for admission with financial aid must be received by January 15, 2007. Closing date for all other applications is June 30.
Students who have not yet reached the required level of linguistic proficiency may enroll in the Continuing Education Program, which allows them to take intermediate and advanced undergraduate language courses at half the regular cost. Those who make satisfactory progress in the languages during their first semester are encouraged to apply to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for admission and for financial aid in either the second or third semester.
Director of Graduate Studies
Professor Catherine Conybeare
Dept of Greek, Latin & Classical Studies
Bryn Mawr College
101 N. Merion Avenue
Bryn Mawr PA 19010-2899
e-mail: cconybea@brynmawr.edu
telephone: 610-526-5036
fax: 610-526-7479
Graduate Group Home
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences / Undergraduate Program in Classics
Carpenter Library, student carrel