Classics at NUI Galway

The most westerly centre for classical studies in europe

At the centre of any study of Arts and Humanities lies the attempt to understand human nature: imagination, creativity, self-understanding and identity. One way to do that is to look at where we have come from: the rise of civilization, the growth of literature, art, and thought, and the historical processes that have moulded our view of the world. Classics is a response to that challenge. In recent years the horizons of the discipline have expanded greatly, and our department is playing its part in the resulting renewal and reinvigoration. Thematically, the interests of staff and research students range back and forth across traditional boundaries — between Antiquity and the Middle Ages, between paganism and Christianity, and between the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean and the barbarian world beyond, including the Atlantic West and Ireland in particular. In terms of focus and method, we are reasserting the primary importance of the study of languages and texts: historical linguistics, philology, palaeography and manuscript work.

Key research specialisms among staff include Indo-European and Celtic linguistics, historical semantics, Latin poetry and palaeography, comparative heroic literature, ethnicity, early Christian textual studies, Hiberno-Latin studies, and the recreation of the Classical inheritance in medieval and modern Irish literature. See the People pages for details. For work reflecting our shared research focus, see the Projects page. Two taught MA programmes offer the opportunity for higher study in our fields of specialist interest: the MA in Classical Civilisation, which presents specialist seminar courses and language options, and the MA in Medieval Studies, which offers an interdisciplinary programme in the cultures and languages of the Middle Ages, with particular reference to the Latinate tradition in palaeography and manuscript studies. Many members of Classics are active in CAMPS, the Centre for Antique, Medieval and Pre-Modern Studies, which promotes research development, seminars, language classes and intellectual enquiry (see further www.nuigalway.ie/camps).

Studying Classics as an Undergraduate

In the undergraduate course we by orient ourselves first from ancient Greece and Rome and then broaden the scope, moving back into prehistory and forwards towards the rise of Christian Europe and the Middle Ages, including the place of Ireland in this international process. There are three central strands in this study: literature and thought, art and archaeology, languages and texts. Our first year modules introduce you to these three in turn, assuming no prior knowledge of the subject and presenting a multi-disciplinary view of Antiquity and its legacy. In the higher years you will have the opportunity to specialize either by learning one or more ancient languages, such as Latin and Greek, or by focusing on archaeological and cultural themes while reading ancient texts in translation.

RECENT AND FORTHCOMING EVENTS

• The Margaret Heavey Memorial Lecture 2012: Prof. Phil. Hardie (Cambridge) on "Narcissus and Pygmalion in Ovid's Metamorphoses", Thursday 23rd February, 7 p.m. (preceded by reception), Siobhan McKenna Theatre, Arts Millennium Building.
• Prof. Richard Sharpe (Oxford), research visit under the auspices of CAMPS and the MA in Medieval Studies: Public lecture on "Ruaidhri O Flathartaigh through his letters", Monday 27th February, 7 p.m., Fottrell Theatre; seminar on "Rome, Vivarium, Bobbio: centres of learning in early medieval Europe?", Tuesday 28th February, 3 p.m., Applied Optics Seminar Room (cofffee and discussion at 4 p.m.).
• See the "Events" page for the programme of the NUI Galway Classics Society and details of membership.

The Classics office is located on the third floor of Tower 2 of the Concourse (Arts-Commerce building), and Alma Murray will be happy to deal with any queries.

Tel. 091-495448 or ext. 5448 (mornings only)
Fax 091-512536
Email: classicsnuigalway.ie 

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