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about the department
The Classical Studies major provides any student with a liberal and comprehensive view of the ancient world through firsthand contact with the Greek and Roman roots of Western civilization. Courses in Greek and Latin are designed to develop competence in the classical languages and to survey the ancient world through its greatest works of literature. Other courses, in which the readings are in English translation, offer a wider conspectus in classical literature, civilization, mythology, and history. The department is interested in students who wish to do their major work in classical studies and in students who wish to relate the study of an ancient literature to modern literature or to an allied subject. Allied subjects regularly include art, English, history, modern languages and literatures, philosophy, and religion. The department offers a major with a choice of two concentrations, Classical Language or Classical Civilization.
The Classics department at Sweet Briar has been combined with the Philosophy and Religion departments to create the CPR Department. Together it is one of the largest departments at the college and one of the most successful. The classes are very small and intimate and the majors spend a lot of time with each other and with the professors. It is a community in the truest sense, as only a small women's college can provide. The classics department works closely with the classics departments in our fellow Virginian women's colleges: Hollins, Mary Baldwin, and Randolph (originally Randolph-Macon).