The University of Cincinnati Classics Department is one of the most active and largest centers for the study of the Greek and Roman Antiquity in the United States. Seventeen full-time faculty members, four research associates, and two Rawson Visiting Scholars specialize in Classical philology, ancient history, and archaeology, including Greek prehistory.

About thirty-five graduate students are in residence at any given time, while others spend a year or more abroad to study or conduct research. In the heart of the Department is the recently renovated Burnam Classical Library, the world's most comprehensive library for advanced research in Classics (with some 300,000 volumes). The department's Tytus Fellowships bring an additional nine to twelve researchers to the Department each year, in addition to many shorter-term visitors. About thirty undergraduate majors profit from the vibrant scholarly community, while an Outreach Program takes faculty and graduate students to more than 100 area schools each year. The department's lecture series, including those sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America, attract audiences from the larger academic and lay community in the Cincinnati area. The Department edits Nestor, a bibliographic resource for Aegean Prehistory, and sponsors continuing series of publications for Pylos, Keos, and Troy. Faculty organize or participate in archaeological fieldwork in Greece at Pylos, Knossos, Isthmia, Anavlochos and the Athenian Agora, in Italy at Pompeii and Tharros in Sardinia, in Turkey at Gordion, and in Israel at Caesarea Maritima.

The Cincinnati Difference

What will you find in the Department of Classics at the University of Cincinnati and nowhere else?

Six or seven years of guaranteed funding, at a level well above subsistence in low-cost Cincinnati
Personalized professional development and mentorship
In-person and online teaching experience suited to your needs and development
Non-teaching service assignments in the first two years, and a dissertation year at the end
A carefully designed and flexible ancient languages curriculum, allowing either fast passage or up to four years for mastery
The world-renowned John Miller Burnam Classics Library, with over 300,000 monographs and 2,000 active periodical subscriptions
The award-winning Outreach Program, now in its second decade
The Tytus Scholars program, hosting 9 new visiting Classics scholars from around the world every year
Excavation opportunities under Cincinnati permits in Greece and Italy

Learn more about our Faculty, Ph.D. and MA tracks in Ancient History, Bronze Age and Classical Archaeology, and Greek and Latin Philology. You may also browse our graduate course cycles, and check out detailed policy about our graduate programs in our Graduate Handbook. See more here about the Burnam Library, the Tytus Fellows program, and our Outreach program.

Contact

Department of Classics
410 Blegen Library
PO Box 210226
Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0226
Phone | (513) 556-3050
Fax | (513) 556-4366
classics@uc.edu

Latest News

Jack Davis elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Congratulations to Jack Davis, who has been elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Class III- Social and behavioral Sciences - Section 5: Antropology and Archaeology)! "The American Academy of Arts & Sciences was founded in 1780 to help a young nation face its challenges through shared purpose, knowledge, and ideas. (...) The 250 members elected in 2024 are being recognized for their excellence and invited to uphold the Academy’s mission of engaging across disciplines and divides." “We honor these artists, scholars, scientists, and leaders in the public, non-profit, and private sectors for their accomplishments and for the curiosity, creativity, and courage required to reach new heights,” said David Oxtoby, President of the Academy. “We invite these exceptional individuals to join in the Academy’s work to address serious challenges and advance the common good.”
Commemoration for Jacquie Riley, the former Head of the John M. Burnam Classics Library

On Tuesday, April 23, UCL librarians and UC Classics faculty and staff gathered to commemorate the life and work of Jacquie Riley. Jacquie was the Head of the John M. Burnam Classics Library between 2003 and 2015. She majored in Classics at UC in 1971-72 and started her first job in the Library in 1973-74. After earning a library degree in 1976, Jacquie worked several years in a public library before returning to the UCL. Among her many contributions as the Head of the Classics Library was the overseeing of the moving of the reference collection, the main desk, and the graduate room from the third floor of Blegen to their present location in 2010.
UC Classics Celebrates 15 + 1 years of its Outreach Program

Last week, the UC Classics Department had a tea to celebrate 15+1 years of its Outreach program. Since 2008, the outreach program has reached over 30,000 people in more than 1,200 presentations to local schools, libraries, and community centers. The program not only demonstrates to the public how active, dynamic, and relevant the field of Classics is today, but also shows students, no matter their background, that they too can pursue Classics. The free program includes topics stretching from gladiators to plagues and pandemics, and are perfect for those interested in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and the sciences--in other words, everyone! Congratulations to the many individuals that have participated in the Outreach program since it's inception, and we look forward to bringing new and ever more interesting material next fall!
Jack Davis Honored as UC's 2024 Distinguished Research Professor (AHSS)

On April 2, Jack Davis, Carl W. Blegen Professor of Greek Archaeology, was honored as the University of Cincinnati's 2024 Distinguished Research Professor of the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. The annually awarded title represents the highest level of recognition for achievements and contributions in AHSS research at the University of Cincinnati. The ceremony opened with remarks by UC President, Neville G. Pinto, before the presentation of the awards by Patrick Limbach, UC's VP of Research. Davis returned to the University of Cincinnati in 1993 after completing his PhD here in 1977. Since his return, he has pioneered the development and application of anthropological and scientific approaches to the study of the ancient Mediterranean world through archaeological explorations of the Greek Peloponnese, Greek islands, and Albania. His most recent project in Pylos (Greece) explores the Palace of Nestor and uncovered the Griffin Warrior tomb. Please join us in congratulating Jack for his significant achievement!