For past, present and future students, staff and all those interested in the Classical World. In covering the languages, literature, ideas, history and art of ancient Greece and Rome, Classics is a truly wide-ranging, holistic discipline. Students of Classics come into contact with these profoundly sophisticated and influential cultures that confronted issues relevant to us today: political system
s in collapse and the clash of civilisations; questions of cultural identity; the problems of empire and colonialism; intellectual enlightenment and reaction; the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, and more. A critical understanding of the Classical past is not only immensely rewarding in itself, it also gives students a profound understanding of much in the modern world now. Latin and Ancient Greek are taught to enable students to read the literary masterworks of Greece and Rome (Homer, Sophocles, Plato, Vergil, et al.) in the original and to appreciate their broader cultural contexts. Non-language courses on life in the ancient world examine the epic poetry, drama, mythology, art, philosophy and history of the ancient world through translations of the original texts and through material culture; these can be combined with the language courses. A great asset of the UC Classics department is its collection of artefacts from Greece, Rome and elsewhere, known as the James Logie Memorial Collection, now housed in the Teece Museum in the Arts Centre in town. Courses on Greek and Roman art and other areas allow students to work closely with high quality vases, sculptures, mosaics and coins from antiquity, which immeasurably enhance the student experience of the ancient world. For more information, see: http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/arts/schools-and-departments/classics/
