Welcome to Classics at Holy Cross, one of the largest and most active undergraduate programs in the country! Whatever your background or interests, you can design a major from an array of courses focused exclusively on undergraduates and take part in cocurricular activities and study abroad opportunities.
In your study of Classics, you will gain a deeper understanding of some of society’s critical questions through the study of ancient Greek and Latin languages and literatures, the cultures of Greco-Roman antiquity and their Mediterranean contexts, and modern responses to the Greek and Roman past. In our courses, you will learn how to read, analyze, and respond to the ancient Greek and Latin languages and literatures with precision and creativity, and become familiar with a wide variety of interpretive approaches from Classics and related disciplines. Moreover, you will not only become well-acquainted with past and present uses of the discipline of Classics and Greco-Roman antiquity, but you will also actively engage in our department’s effort to promote equity and accessibility in the study of ancient Greece and Rome.
Program Highlights
In the Classics Department at Holy Cross, you can
- learn Latin in an innovative Community-Based Learning yearlong course
- gain a deeper understanding of the experience of refugees, past and present, through classroom learning and volunteer work
- engage in new research on manuscripts of the Iliad and present it at conferences across the world through the Manuscripts, Inscriptions, and Documents club
- explore how the Greco-Roman past has shaped and continues to shape American history
- consider how the Greco-Roman world interacted and interconnected with ancient Asian cultures
- analyze how ancient art and architecture has been appropriated by different cultures over time
- contribute to our journals, Parnassus and the New England Classics Journal
- promote socially minded charities through student-organized events like Homerathon
- organize events that make the study of ancient Greece and Rome more open to local communitie
The department offers competitive, merit-based scholarships for entering students who will major in classics.
Students engage in thesis research and digital projects, present at conferences and publish in a variety of outlets.
Holy Cross sponsors programs in both Rome and Athens, and students can spend a semester in each city if they choose.
Classics News
