MA Ancient Philosophy

Study on a course with a long and distinguished history.

This is a specialist course geared towards preparing you for higher research in ancient philosophy – partly through direct research training, and partly through modules taught by experts in their field in small-group seminars. Durham has a longstanding tradition of international excellence in the field of ancient philosophy, with several recent doctoral students having gone on to take up academic positions in the UK and abroad. The course lasts for one year full-time (two years part-time).

Course Structure

You will take modules to a total of 180 or 190 credits. The structure of the course is as follows:

• Language module in an ancient or modern language relevant to research in the area of Classics (20-40 credits)
• Core module in Ancient Philosophy (30 credits)
• 15,000-word Dissertation (60 credits)
• Optional modules (50–80 credits).

MA modules are 30 credits; you may substitute two 20-credit undergraduate modules for one MA module. You may also take up to 40 credits of modules offered by other Departments (subject to approval).

Not all modules will be offered every year, and new modules (both optional and core) are added regularly.

Core modules:

• Language module in an ancient or modern language relevant to research in the area of Classics
• Core module in Ancient Philosophy (in 2018-19, options were Aristotle’s Systems, Plutarch the Philosopher or Cicero Philosophus)
• Dissertation.

Examples of optional modules:

Optional modules are offered according to the current research interests of members of staff. In recent years, optional modules available in the Department have included:

• Akkadian
• Ancient Philosophers on Origins
• Animals in Graeco-Roman Antiquity
• Aristotle’s Systems
• Dreams in the Ancient World
• Forms After Plato
• Latin Love Elegy
• Law and Literature in Ancient Greece and Rome
• Greeks and the East
• Monumental Architecture of the Roman East
• Religious Life in The Roman Near East
• The Classical Tradition: Art, Literature, Thought
• The Queen of the Desert: Rise and Decline of Palmyra’s Civilization
• The Roman Republic: Debates and Approaches