MA Guidelines: Philology

The University of Arizona - Department of Classics

IV. EMPHASIS IN CLASSICAL PHILOLOGY

Matter in Section IV pertains only to those students emphasizing philology.

Basic Requirements

The degree requires 33 units of graduate-level work (5XX), distributed as follows:

1. All entering graduate students must enroll in CLAS 510A, the basic proseminar in philological, archaeological, and pedagogical methods.

2. 12 units of GRK 500-589.

3. 12 units of LAT 500-589.

4. 3 additional units are required. These may be selected from the graduate seminar CLAS 596 (highly recommended) or any CLAS, GRK, or LAT 5XX courses.

5. No more than 3 units of CLAS/GRK/LAT 599 (independent study) credit may be counted toward the degree.

6. 3 units—but no more than 3 units—of CLAS 910 (thesis writing) must be counted toward the basic 33 units.

Before enrolling in a CLAS 596 seminar, a student must have demonstrated research proficiency in a modern foreign language, following the procedures specified below. Students in the philology emphasis may substitute 3 units of CLAS 596 for 3 units of either GRK 500-589 or LAT 500-589 if significant amounts of Greek and/or Latin texts are to be 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

This requirement is identical for students emphasizing either ancient history, archaeology, pedagogy, or philology. Research proficiency in French, German, or Italian is required for the M.A. degree. Modern language examinations will be administered by the department and will follow a uniform format: students will be given a passage from a scholarly work in the field of classical studies and will be asked to translate it within one hour. Dictionaries are allowed.

Students can also satisfy the 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

These are translation exams, based entirely on the Reading List in Appendix D. Students will be required to demonstrate sufficient command of both languages at the M.A. level in order to continue in the program. One session will be devoted to translation from Latin (1.5 hours). One session will be devoted to translation from Greek (1.5 hours). Each examination will include four selections to be translated, two of poetry and two of prose. The use of a dictionary will be permitted.

The examinations 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.

Grading of the Qualifying Examination

Grading is on the basis of High Pass, Pass, and No Pass. At least two (philology) faculty members will grade the examinations; 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, either exam may be retaken in the sixth week of the following semester. Students must pass the examination by their third semester of residence after they have begun taking courses in the target language for graduate credit in the philology emphasis. Students who do not pass the Qualifying Exam within the prescribed timeline may not continue in the M.A.program.

Comprehensive Examinations

Comprehensive Examinations are normally taken in the semester immediately after the Qualifying Examination has been passed. They will be 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 students’ responsibility, prior to taking the Comprehensive Examinations, to prepare a Master's Degree Study Program form, known as the "degree check," to submit it to the Director of Graduate Studies for his or her signature, and to make sure it is routed to the Graduate School with the assistance of the departmental Administrative Assistant.

The Comprehensive Examinations are three in number. They will be administered over a period of three calendar days (unless a weekend intervenes), during sessions of three hours each. The sequence and emphases of the examinations will be determined by the student in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies, except that the examination in ancient history must be scheduled at the same time as other students taking it in the same semester.

Students should inform the Director of Graduate Studies of their intention to take the exams, preferably in the semester before the Comprehensive Examinations are to be taken, but no later than the end of the first week of the examination semester. At that time students will consult with the Director of Graduate Studies regarding five possible topics for the examinations in Greek and Roman 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 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 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.

1. One examination will be devoted to general knowledge of Greek literature (3 hours) and will address topics organized around genres, authors, works and/or themes. Using a standard history (e.g. A. Lesky, History of Greek Literature) and other secondary literature in addition to the relevant primary sources, students will prepare the five topics. The Director of Graduate Studies and involved faculty members, after further consultation with students, will compose individual exams including three essay questions based on the five prepared topics. The entire exam will be structured as follows:

Part I: short identifications chosen from the Greek and General lists in Appendix E (45 minutes).

Part II: 3 essays (45 minutes each), chosen from the five topics prepared in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies and faculty members.

2. One examination will be devoted to general knowledge of Roman 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 and involved faculty members, after further consultation with students, will compose individual exams including three essay questions based on the five prepared topics. The entire exam will be structured as follows:

Part I: short identifications chosen from the Roman and General lists in Appendix E (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.

3. One examination will be devoted to ancient history (3 hours). The ancient history exam will be based on the syllabus exactly as given in Appendix F.

Grading of the Comprehensive Examinations

Grading is on the basis of High Pass, Pass, and No Pass. The examinations in Greek and Latin literature will be graded by two philology faculty members; in the event of a disagreement about an examination, the Director of Graduate Studies will ask a third faculty member to arbitrate. At least two Classics faculty members will grade the examination in history; 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.

Students must obtain at least a "Pass" in each section of the examination. Failure to pass one part of the exam will necessitate the retaking of the failed portion of the exam in that same semester (normally within two weeks of the failed exam) at a time to be determined in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. Students who fail two or all three parts of the examination will retake the entire Comprehensive Examination in the sixth week of the following semester. A second failure on any part of the Comprehensive Examination will result in the student’s termination from the graduate program.

Next: Emphasis in Ancient History

INDEX

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Last modified: 18 January, 2008