The Committee on the Ancient Mediterranean World (CAMW)

The Committee on the Ancient Mediterranean World (CAMW) was founded in 1975 with the intention of bringing together faculty whose fields of study, ranging from the ancient Near East and the ancient Greek world to late antiquity, adjoin and overlap chronologically and geographically. While these fields require mastery of relevant languages, CAMW is focused less on texts than on contexts; it offers students an opportunity to use philological skills in historical and cultural explorations. CAMW is a Greek-centered program. Students are required to learn ancient Greek to the same level as students in the counterpart degree programs of Classics. They also acquire advanced knowledge of at least one other ancient language. For those intending classics as a profession this has been Latin; other students have combined Greek with Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, Old Persian and Anatolian languages, Akkadian, or Egyptian. Most committee students are in the areas of ancient history, history of ancient religions, Greek and Near Eastern studies, or late antiquity. This list, however, is not intended to be exhaustive, and the committee, within the frame of its requirements, is prepared to entertain thoughtful plans of study that draw on the University’s resources in other fields.

CAMW students take courses in the Departments of Classics, Art History, History, and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, the Committee on Social Thought, and the Divinity School. Courses in these units are sometimes cross-listed with CAMW. Some courses and seminars are designed specifically for CAMW students, to be offered under CAMW's aegis. There is no required curriculum. Rather, the committee relies on close advising of individual students.

Students in CAMW normally participate in several graduate workshops. The Ancient Societies Workshop has been the primary academic and intellectual forum of CAMW.

A.M. Requirements

  • Nine courses for quality grades, no more than three of which may be in Greek or Latin 20400–20600. (Beginning Greek and Latin do not count toward this requirement, but beginning Near Eastern languages will be counted.)
  • Four courses distributed in each of the four disciplinary fields (literature, history, philosophy/religion, and art/archaeology.
  • Two courses in an ancient language other than Greek.
  • One graduate seminar paper.
  • Greek language at the level of Greek 20600.
  • A grade of pass on the University examination in one modern language (French or German, except by approval of the chair)Ph.D. Requirements

Ph.D. Requirements

Eighteen courses (nine past the A.M.) for quality grades, no more than three of which may be in Greek or Latin 20400–20600. Of these, eight courses (four past the A.M.) distributed as above and divided between Greek and other culture areas.

  • Greek and one other ancient language. Greek or Latin will be certified by the competency qualifying examination in Greek or Latin, and students preparing for these exams will normally have taken the Graduate Survey sequence in the relevant language. Other ancient languages will be certified by examination set after consultation with faculty of the relevant departments.
  • Two written, three-hour history examinations, one in each of the two chosen culture areas, based upon reading lists arrived at in consultation with the examining faculty.
  • A grade of pass on the University examination in a second modern language (French or German, except by approval of the chair).
  • The Greek competency qualifying examination is to be passed before the beginning of the third full year of graduate study. All examinations are to be passed by the end of the fourth full year of graduate study.
  • By the end of the third year of graduate study, the student in consultation with the chair and in accordance with plans for research for the dissertation will choose an advisory committee of three faculty members.
  • After completion of the above requirements, the candidate with the guidance of the advisory committee must submit for approval a detailed proposal to proceed to the dissertation. The proposal is to be submitted no more than two quarters after the completion of all required examinations.
  • The Ph.D. will be awarded after approval of the dissertation by the advisory committee and a final oral defense of the completed dissertation. (Oral defenses are ordinarily not scheduled during the Summer term.)

This text was last revised on 9/03/2003.