About

Mission Statement

Our program offers students the opportunity to engage with the diverse peoples
and cultures of the ancient Mediterranean world. This engagement encourages
students to reflect upon the past in order to bridge time and distance in pursuit of
answers to fundamental questions about what it means to be human. Students
grapple with the origins of urban life; ancient Mediterranean systems of belief and
myth; ancient cosmology; the meaning of the major monuments, literature, and
artifacts from the Mediterranean region; Roman law; the lives of women in
Antiquity; ancient Greek and Latin languages, and much more. This breadth of
courses fosters intellectual curiosity and allows students to consider multiple
viewpoints, understand different methodologies, and engage in creative inquiry
across disciplines.

The study of the ancient Mediterranean world at UNCG has been a foundational
discipline since the college first opened its doors in 1891, when all students studied
Greek and Roman history, and three years of Latin were required for graduation.
While Classical Studies has been part of UNCG’s curriculum for over 125 years,
the discipline, like the university, has grown and expanded and changed. Students
in Classical Studies now engage with a vast and interconnected cultural diversity
that spanned the entire ancient Mediterranean world, a diversity which in many
ways reflects the diversity of the student body at UNCG.

Revised September 2019