Greek and Latin

University of California, Berkeley

About the Program

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

The major in Greek and Latin provides training in both ancient Greek and Latin, enabling students to encounter texts such as Homer's Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid in their original form. Students can begin their study of the languages in our department or build on knowledge acquired elsewhere.

Declaring the Major

To declare the major, meet with the Ancient Greek and Roman Studies undergraduate advisor, who can help you create a course plan and complete the declaration. You may also want to review the Letters & Science advising site for a guide to declaring a major. For a detailed list of requirements, please see the Major Requirements tab.

Honors Program

Students who are declared majors in Greek and Latin and who have a GPA (both general and departmental) of at least 3.6 are eligible for honors in Greek and Latin. The honors program consists of a two-semester course sequence, either GREEK H195A and GREEK H195B or LATIN H195A and LATIN H195B, that is designed to support the writing of a thesis. This thesis, which will be evaluated by an honors committee of three members, may either build on work in a previous upper division course used in fulfillment of the Greek and Latin major or may be a newly conceived project. It is due the Monday of the 13th week of the semester in which the relevant H195B is taken.

Further details can be found online at AGRS Undergraduate Honors. Please consult with an AGRS undergraduate advisor to begin planning to participate in Honors.

Minor Program

There is no minor program in Greek and Latin. Students who wish to pursue a classical language at the minor level should consider the Greek or Latin minors. See below.

Other Majors and Minors Offered by the Department of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies

Ancient Greek and Roman Studies (Major and Minor)
Greek (Major and Minor)
Latin (Major and Minor)

 

Visit Department Website

Major Requirements

In addition to the University, campus, and college requirements, listed on the College Requirements tab, students must fulfill the below requirements specific to their major program.

General Guidelines

  1. All courses taken to fulfill the major requirements below must be taken for graded credit (except for courses taken in Spring 2020), other than courses listed which are offered on a Pass/No Pass basis only. Other exceptions to this requirement are noted as applicable.
  2. No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs, with the exception of minors offered outside of the College of Letters & Science.
  3. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in both upper and lower division courses used to fulfill the major requirements.

For information regarding residence requirements and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.

Summary of Degree Requirements

Prerequisite: Successful completion of one UCB Greek or Latin course.
Lower Division: AGRS 10A & 10B (AGRS 17A,17B or R44 can substitute upon approval)8
Elementary Language: Two or four courses (Can be replaced by high school or transfer credit upon completion of a placement exam.)0-20
Basic Reading: Four courses16
Senior Reading: Two Upper Division Greek, Latin or one of each8
Upper Division: One AGRS course4
Total Units36-56

Lower Division

AGRS 10AIntroduction to Ancient Greece4
AGRS 10BIntroduction Ancient Rome4
AGRS 10A can be substituted by AGRS 17A or R44 and AGRS 10B can be substituted by 17B or R44. Subject to advisor approval.
Total Units8
1

 To be completed by the end of the student's junior year.

Elementary Language

Greek 1`0-10
Select one of the following:
Elementary Ancient Greek
and Elementary Greek
The Greek Workshop [10]
Latin 10-10
Select one of the following: 1
Elementary Latin
and Elementary Latin
The Latin Workshop [10]
Total Units0-20
1

Elementary language requirements can also be met with a placement exam and high school or college transfer credit.

Intermediate Language

GREEK 100Plato and Attic Prose4
LATIN 100Republican Prose4
Total Units8

Basic Reading

Two courses Greek 101 or 102 and Latin 101 or 102

GREEK4
Select one of the following:
Homer [4]
Drama and Society [4]
Latin4
Select one of the following:
Vergil [4]
Lyric and Society [4]
Total Units8

Senior Reading

Select two of the following:8
Homer [4] 1
Drama and Society [4] 1
Archaic Poetry [4]
Greek Drama [4]
Hellenistic Poets [4]
Herodotus [4]
Thucydides [4]
Attic Oratory [4]
Plato and Aristotle [4]
Vergil [4] 1
Lyric and Society [4] 1
Roman Drama [4]
Lucretius, Vergil's Georgics [4]
Latin Epic [4]
Latin Prose to AD 14 [4]
Tacitus [4]
Post-Augustan Prose [4]
Medieval Latin [4]
Readings in Medieval Latin [4]
Total Units8
1

Excluded if used to fulfill Intermediate Reading Requirements.

AGRS Upper Division Elective

AGRS 121Ancient Religion4
AGRS 124Classical Poetics4
AGRS 130Topics in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture4
AGRS 130AEpic and Saga4
AGRS 130BThe Origins of Rome4
AGRS 130CAncient Greek Political Thought4
AGRS 130DThe Roman Economy4
AGRS 130EThe Trojan War: History or Myth?4
AGRS 130FThe History of Hell: Eschatology in Ancient Mediterranean Cultures4
AGRS 130GThe Literature of Everyday Life4
AGRS 130HReligion and Literature in the Greco-Roman World4
AGRS 130IClassical Greek Rhetoric: Evolution or Revolution?4
AGRS 130JGraeco-Roman Egypt: Society and Economy4
AGRS 130KMusic and Difference in Ancient Greece4
AGRS 130LIntroduction to Greco-Roman Magic4
AGRS 130MSlavery and Literature in the Greco-Roman World4
AGRS 130NAncient Portraiture & Biography4
AGRS 130PAncient Times: Myth, History, Measurement4
AGRS 130RThe Art and Monuments of Augustan Rome4
AGRS 130SThe God of the Philosophers in Ancient Greece4
AGRS 161Gender, Sexuality, and Culture in the Ancient World4
AGRS 163Topics in Greek Philosophy4
AGRS 170AClassical Archaeology: Greek Vase Painting4
AGRS 170CClassical Archaeology: Greek Architecture4
AGRS 170DClassical Archaeology: Roman Art and Architecture4
AGRS 172Art and Archaeology of the Aegean Bronze Age4
AGRS N172AArchaeological Field School in Nemea, Greece4
AGRS N172BArchaeological Field School in Mycenae, Greece4
AGRS 175ATopography and Monuments: Athens4
AGRS 175DTopography and Monuments: Pompeii and Herculaneum4
AGRS 175FTopography and Monuments: Roman Wall Painting4
AGRS 175GTopography and Monuments: Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt4
AGRS C175FPictorial Representation in the Roman World4
AGRS 180Ancient Athletics4

College Requirements

Undergraduate students must fulfill the following requirements in addition to those required by their major program.

For detailed lists of courses that fulfill college requirements, please review the College of Letters & Sciences page in this Guide. For College advising appointments, please visit the L&S Advising Pages. 

University of California Requirements

Entry Level Writing

All students who will enter the University of California as freshmen must demonstrate their command of the English language by fulfilling the Entry Level Writing requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is also a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses at UC Berkeley. 

American History and American Institutions

The American History and Institutions requirements are based on the principle that a US resident graduated from an American university, should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States.

Berkeley Campus Requirement

American Cultures

All undergraduate students at Cal need to take and pass this course in order to graduate. The requirement offers an exciting intellectual environment centered on the study of race, ethnicity and culture of the United States. AC courses offer students opportunities to be part of research-led, highly accomplished teaching environments, grappling with the complexity of American Culture.

College of Letters & Science Essential Skills Requirements

Quantitative Reasoning

The Quantitative Reasoning requirement is designed to ensure that students graduate with basic understanding and competency in math, statistics, or computer science. The requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course.

Foreign Language

The Foreign Language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension, writing, and conversation in a foreign language equivalent to the second semester college level, either by passing an exam or by completing approved course work.

Reading and Composition

In order to provide a solid foundation in reading, writing, and critical thinking the College requires two semesters of lower division work in composition in sequence. Students must complete parts A & B reading and composition courses in sequential order by the end of their fourth semester.

College of Letters & Science 7 Course Breadth Requirements

Breadth Requirements

The undergraduate breadth requirements provide Berkeley students with a rich and varied educational experience outside of their major program. As the foundation of a liberal arts education, breadth courses give students a view into the intellectual life of the University while introducing them to a multitude of perspectives and approaches to research and scholarship. Engaging students in new disciplines and with peers from other majors, the breadth experience strengthens interdisciplinary connections and context that prepares Berkeley graduates to understand and solve the complex issues of their day.

Unit Requirements

  • 120 total units

  • Of the 120 units, 36 must be upper division units

  • Of the 36 upper division units, 6 must be taken in courses offered outside your major department
Residence Requirements

For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus as a student in the College of Letters & Science. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement by attending classes here for four years, or two years for transfer students. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you go abroad for a semester or year or want to take courses at another institution or through UC Extension during your senior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to meet an adviser to determine how you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.

Note: Courses taken through UC Extension do not count toward residence.

Senior Residence Requirement

After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your BA degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 6 passed units. Intercampus Visitor, EAP, and UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) units are excluded.

You may use a Berkeley Summer Session to satisfy one semester of the Senior Residence requirement, provided that you successfully complete 6 units of course work in the Summer Session and that you have been enrolled previously in the college.

Modified Senior Residence Requirement

Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP), Berkeley Summer Abroad, or the UC Berkeley Washington Program (UCDC) may meet a Modified Senior Residence requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.

Upper Division Residence Requirement

You must complete in residence a minimum of 18 units of upper division courses (excluding UCEAP units), 12 of which must satisfy the requirements for your major.

Student Learning Goals

Mission

The learning goals should be understood in the context of the mission statement of the Department of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies. The first two components of that statement are especially relevant to undergraduate teaching and are repeated here:

  • To give students across the University access to the literature, history, archaeology, mythology and philosophy of the ancient Greek and Roman world through an array of undergraduate courses on ancient Mediterranean culture in translation. These courses introduce students to texts, artifacts, and ideas that are worth studying both in their own right and as abidingly influential elements in the imagination and history of later cultures. Such study deepens students' understanding of present-day issues by inculcating a sense of historical perspective that takes account of both the differences and the continuities between contemporary and ancient cultures.
  • To enable undergraduates to immerse themselves in the language and culture of ancient Greece and Rome through its majors in Greek, Latin, Greek and Latin, and Ancient Greek and Roman Studies. These majors equip students with knowledge and analytical skills that can be applied in many areas (e.g., law, politics, business, biosciences, computer science and media) as well as providing essential preparation for graduate study in Classics, Comparative Literature, Philosophy, and other fields.

Learning Goals for the Major

  1. Acquire a basic grounding in the vocabulary, morphology, and syntax of classical Greek and Latin.
  2. Practice the skills needed to use dictionaries, grammars, and other resources to read intermediate texts accurately and to deal comfortably with at least some advanced texts in the original language(s).
  3. Learn to identify and understand key events, institutions, personalities, places, and concepts of ancient Greek and Roman culture.
  4. Gain a critical awareness of continuities and differences between and within cultures and of ideologies of gender, group identity, social status, and political organization.
  5. Demonstrate the ability to interpret texts and material culture and to understand the implications of interpretive methods.
  6. Demonstrate the ability to synthesize a well-organized argument from textual or other evidence and to express it in formal English prose.

Major Map

Major Maps help undergraduate students discover academic, co-curricular, and discovery opportunities at UC Berkeley based on intended major or field of interest. Developed by the Division of Undergraduate Education in collaboration with academic departments, these experience maps will help you:

  • Explore your major and gain a better understanding of your field of study

  • Connect with people and programs that inspire and sustain your creativity, drive, curiosity and success

  • Discover opportunities for independent inquiry, enterprise, and creative expression

  • Engage locally and globally to broaden your perspectives and change the world

  • Reflect on your academic career and prepare for life after Berkeley

Use the major map below as a guide to planning your undergraduate journey and designing your own unique Berkeley experience.

View the Greek and Latin | Greek | Latin Major Map PDF.

 

Courses

Greek and Latin

Contact Information

Department of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies

7233 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-4218

Fax: 510-643-2959

Visit Department Website

Undergraduate Student Affairs Officer

Cassandra Dunn

7228 Dwinelle Hall

https://dagrs.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/advising

cassandrajj@berkeley.edu

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