Matter in this section pertains only to those students emphasizing Latin Pedagogy with Secondary School Teaching Certification.
Basic Requirements
The degree requires a minimum of 33 units of graduate-level work, distributed as follows:
- Proficiency in French, German, or Italian.
- 3 units of Methodology.
- Qualifying Examination in Latin (translation).
- 18 units of Latin author courses including LAT 580.
- Comprehensive Examination in Latin Literature and Ancient History.
- 3 units of CLAS 910 (Thesis/Action Research Project).
- 24 additional units of graduate credits the College of Education.
- 12 units of internship (student teaching).
Before enrolling in CLAS 596, students must have demonstrated reading proficiency in a modern foreign language, following the procedures specified below. Students in the Latin Pedagogy emphasis may substitute 3 units of CLAS 596 for 3 units of either GRK 500-589 or LAT 500-589 (excluding LAT 586) if significant amounts of Greek and/or Latin texts are read in the seminar. Students wishing to do so must submit a petition briefly stating their intent, along with a course syllabus, to the Classics Department Curriculum Committee before the end of the first week of the semester for approval.
Before earning permission to undertake the M.A. thesis, students must pass the Modern Language, Qualifying, and Comprehensive Examinations.
Modern Language
Students in all five emphases must demonstrate reading proficiency in French, German, or Italian. Modern language examinations are administered by the department at the beginning or the fall semester according to a uniform format: students must translate a passage from a scholarly work in the field of classical studies within one hour. Dictionaries are allowed.
Students may satisfy this requirement by completing German 500 with a grade of B or higher (and thus need not take the departmental exam). Students who do not fulfill the modern language examination requirement by the end of their second semester of graduate residence will not be allowed to continue in the program until the requirement is fulfilled, and will be ineligible for financial aid or any other form of departmental support.
Qualifying Examination
The examination will be given once each semester, in the sixth week. Exams will be administered in the fall and spring semesters only, not at any time during the summer.
1. The exam will be devoted to translation from Latin (1.5 hours). This is a translation exam, based entirely on the Reading List in Appendix F. Students will be required to demonstrate command of the Latin language at the M.A. level in order to continue in the program. The exam will include four selections to be translated, two of poetry and two of prose. Students may use a dictionary.
Grading of the Qualifying Examination
Grading is on the basis of High Pass, Pass, and No Pass. Two members of the Department of Classics faculty will grade the examination. In the event of a disagreement about an examination, the Director of Graduate Studies will ask a third faculty member to arbitrate. The exams will be graded and the results reported to students within two weeks of the examination date.
If failed, the exam may be retaken in the sixth week of the following semester. Students may take the Qualifying Examination up to three times, and they must pass the examination by their third semester of residence after they have begun taking courses in Latin for graduate credit. Students who do not pass the Qualifying Exam within the prescribed timeline may not continue in the M.A. program in their chosen emphasis. Upon petition, and approval by the voting faculty, they may continue in the M.A. program in a different emphasis.
Comprehensive Examination
The Comprehensive Examination battery is normally taken in the semester after the Qualifying Examination has been passed. It is administered only in the fall and spring semesters, not at any time during the summer. Students must have previously passed the Modern Language and Qualifying Examinations in order to attempt the Comprehensive Examination.
It is the student's responsibility, prior to taking the Comprehensive Examination, to prepare a Master's Degree Program Plan of Study form and submit it to the Director of Graduate Studies for his or her signature, and to see that it is routed to the Graduate School with the assistance of the Graduate Services Coordinator.
The Comprehensive Examination consists of two parts for the Latin Pedagogy emphasis. The student teaching experience together with the production of a Teaching Portfolio substitutes for the third component of the Comprehensive Examination in the other three M.A. emphases. All examinations of the same type will be scheduled at the same time; i.e., all Latin literature exams and all common Ancient History exams at the same time, etc. No separate times will be scheduled for individual exams.
Students should inform the Director of Graduate Studies of their intention to take the exam, preferably in the semester before the Comprehensive Examination is to be taken, but no later than the end of the first week of the examination semester. Students in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies will determine the emphases of the examination.
- At that time students will consult with the Director of Graduate Studies regarding five possible topics for the part of the examination in Latin literature. The Director of Graduate Studies will refer students to faculty members in accordance with their expertise regarding specific topics.
- Students planning to take the Comprehensive Exam must then submit a written schedule of preparation for each particular topic, including dates of submission of preliminary and revised bibliographies, to the faculty members serving as consultants for the exam. Students must also supply the Director of Graduate Studies with a list of these topics and copies of the preparation schedule for each part of the examination, preferably in the semester before the Comprehensive Examination is to be taken, but no later than the end of the first week of the examination semester.
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One part of the Comprehensive Examination will be devoted to general knowledge of Latin literature (3 hours) and will address topics organized around genres, authors, works and/or themes. Using a standard history (e.g., G. B. Conte, Roman Literature: A History) and other secondary literature in addition to the relevant primary sources, students will prepare the five topics. The Director of Graduate Studies, after consu ltation with the student and involved faculty members, will compose an individual exam including four essay questions based on the five prepared topics; students will choose to write on any three of these. This part of the exam will be structured as follows:
Part I: 8 out of 12 short identifications chosen from the Latin and General lists in Appendix G (45 minutes).
Part II: three essays (45 minutes each), chosen from the five topics prepared in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies and faculty members.
- One part of the Comprehensive Examination will be devoted to ancient history (3 hours). The ancient history exam component will be based on the syllabus exactly as given in Appendix H.
Grading of the Comprehensive Examination
Grading is on the basis of High Pass, Pass, and No Pass.
High Pass: A superior response on both parts of the Comprehensive Exam
Pass: An overall satisfactory response
No Pass: Falls below minimum expectations
Two faculty members will grade the examination; in the event of a disagreement about an examination, the Director of Graduate Studies will ask a third faculty member to arbitrate. The exam will be graded and the result reported to students within two weeks of the examination date.
Students must obtain at least a "Pass" in each section of the Comprehensive Examination. Failure to pass one part of the exam will necessitate the retaking of the entire Comprehensive Examination in the sixth week of the following semester. A second failure on either part of the Comprehensive Examination will result in the student's termination from the graduate program. Students retaking the Comprehensive Exam are not eligible to receive a grade of “High Pass” on the exam battery.
