Master of Arts [M.A] [Ancient History] From University of Pennsylvania

Faculty from the following departments contribute to the curriculum: Anthropology, Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World, Classical Studies, History of Art, Religious Studies, History, and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Students in the Graduate Group pursue the PhD degree. They are required to specialize in two major fields of concentration, most commonly drawn from Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Syro-Palestinian, or Greek and Roman civilizations. Other fields for major or related work include ancient Anatolian, Indian, or Iranian civilizations, as well as the early medieval world. In consultation with the Graduate Group Chair, the student charts a program which may include the political, economic, intellectual, or cultural history, as well as the art and archaeology, of his or her two areas.

The Department of Classical Studies is the administrative home of the Graduate Group in Ancient History. The department runs a weekly colloquium series during the academic year that features distinguished visiting scholars and departmental faculty; this event is followed by a lively discussion, and preceded by coffee in the Department Lounge. The department, in collaboration with Penn's Center for Ancient Studies, often hosts and funds conferences, including the biennial Penn-Leiden Colloquium on Ancient Values.

Penn offers superb resources for the study of ancient history. We have a world-class faculty, who specialize in a wide range of sub-fields within the discipline, and who take seriously the responsibility of training graduate students for the profession. We have a good rate of placement; in recent years, Penn graduate students have found tenure-track jobs in institutions including Brooklyn College, Illinois Wesleyan, the University of Minnesota, the University of Notre Dame, and Wofford College, as well as visiting positions and post-docs in institutions; of those who finished the program in the past twenty years, the majority now have tenure or tenure-track jobs.