Beyond the B.A.
What Kind of Work Can You Do If You Major in Classics?
Some of our best friends have jobs in...
- Advertising
- Archaeology
- Archives
- Arts Commentary
- College/University Presidency
- Computer Programming
- Fiction
- Film Consulting
- Financial Consulting
- Foreign Service
- Foundations
- Government
- Higher Education Administration
- Historical Societies
- Information Management
- Journalism
- Judiciary
- Labor Relations
- Law
- Libraries
- Literary Editing
- Market Research
- Medicine
- Ministry
- Museums
- Public Relations
- Publishing
- Research Assistance
- Sales
- Scholarship
- Speechwriting
- Teaching
- Theater
- Tourism
- Translating
Additional training is required in some cases, but it is with other majors, too; and a Classics degree looks good on applications, since it shows you can master a complex subject and express yourself well.
Assorted Former Classics Students, or, the Road to Success
- Ben Bradlee, Joint Chairman of the International Advisory Board, Independent Media Group; author; formerly Executive Editor of the Washington Post
- Rita Mae Brown, author (fiction, poetry, non-fiction)
- William S. Cohen, author (fiction, non-fiction, and poetry); former U.S. Representative and Senator; Secretary of Defense in the Clinton administration
- Nathaniel Fick, Afghanistan war veteran and memoirist
- Mary Ann Hopkins, Professor of Surgery and Doctor Without Borders
- David Karp, Fruit Detective
- David Packard, co-founder and first CEO of Hewlett Packard
- J. K. Rowling, creator of Harry Potter
- Lynn Sherr, Correspondent for ABC News; author
- Ted Turner, Chairman of the Turner Foundation; founder of Cable News Network and Turner Network Television; owner of the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks
- Garry Wills, scholar of cultural history and author; professor of History at Northwestern University
- Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook (2004 profile by The Harvard Crimson; 2009 article about Latin on Facebook by cnet news)
- Link to rogueclassicist's index of holders of Classics degrees
Thoughts of Those Who Have Been There, Done That
- Address by Lynn Sherr of ABC News to the Classical Association of the Atlantic States, on where studying Ancient Greek has gotten her in the world.
- Euthyphro II: a dialogue that has Plato in the back of its mind, on the joys and relevance of majoring in ancient Greek rather than Business. By Dave Freddoso, Greek major at the University of Notre Dame.
- Profiles of current students and recent graduates of Classics programs at the University of Dallas.
- The Classics Teachers' Page: intriguing successes of assorted students of the Classics.
- Top Ten Reasons to Study Classics, a compilation of reflections (including Eudora Welty's) presented by the KET-Distance Learning Latin Program.
- 2010 SAT data and Latin: More than just a Language, promotional materials from the National Committee for Latin and Greek.
Preparing to Pursue a Future within Academia
For some, a branch of Classical Studies is a good career choice. These indexes can help you identify programs in which to acquire the credentials you will need.
- The Classical Association of the Middle West and South maintains an index of links to doctorate and master's, MA-only, and post-baccalaureate programs (including Loyola's) in the US, and select programs abroad.
- GradSchools.com, Humanities and Cultures, indexed directory: follow links to Archaeology, Area & Cultural Studies - European Studies, Foreign Languages & Studies, History Disciplines, Literature - Classics, etc.
- Index of North American graduate programs incorporating Byzantine Studies or Late Antiquity, maintained by the Byzantine Studies Association of North America.
- Graduate Education in Classics, index-page for several 1990s colloquia among professional Classicists concerned with the future of graduate training in the profession - most of which remains apposite in the 2010s.
- Check out this advice from Dr. Sarah Nooter, University of Chicago, who covers some of the questions you may have (in Eidolon).
Revised 11 November 2017
