Classical Studies Minor
Classical Languages

Classical Studies Minor

 

Classical Studies minors will survey the languages, lives, and literature of the ancient Mediterranean and their outsize impact on human society.

After studying the history of Greece and Rome, you can engage with the works of great Greco-Roman writers: Homer, Tacitus, Paul, Sophocles, and Virgil, to name a handful. You could choose to trace classical concepts through the birth of Christianity to the Renaissance and beyond, or even take a course in ancient mathematics.

Whether pursuing art, politics, or academia, this minor will help you discover how classical antiquity continues to shape our modern world.

 

Apply Request Info

Learn More About Our Program

Get to know our award-winning faculty and their academic specialties.

Meet Our Faculty
Explore Scholarships

Curriculum

Classical Studies, Minor

Students must complete 6 courses which may be double-counted towards core curriculum requirements. The lower-division entry course, a comprehensive introduction to the Greek and Roman civilization, is required. At least three courses must be upper-division. Students may elect in any order five of these courses. Upper-division Greek and Latin courses can also be used to meet the minor requirements. Integral students can petition to use INTEG 321 Sophomore Mathematics (Ancient mathematics and mathematical cosmology) to meet these requirements. Some listed courses have a prerequisite or require instructor's permission. January Term courses do not count towards the minor requirements.

Requirements

Foundation

  • Greece & Rome: Golden Times (3 units)

Electives

Please select any five of the following courses. At least three courses must be at the 300 or 400 level. The 200-level LATIN and GREEK courses require prerequisites which are not part of the Classical Studies minor.

  • Medieval Art (4 units)
  • Renaissance Art (4 units)
  • Baroque Art (4 units)
  • Classical Mythology (3 units)
  • Empires of Greece and Rome (3 units)
  • Medieval Literature (4 units)
  • Renaissance & 17th Century Lit (4 units)
  • Intermediate Ancient Greek 1 (3 units)
  • Intermediate Ancient Greek 2 (3 units)
  • Greek Historians (3 units)
  • Greek Orators (3 units)
  • Greek Dramatists (3 units)
  • Greek Lyric Poets (3 units)
  • Aristotle (3 units)
  • New Testament Greek (3 units)
  • Plato (3 units)
  • Homer (3 units)
  • Special Study (1-4 units)
  • Dark Ages (Birth of Europe) (4 units)
  • Seminar III Medieval Texts (4 units)
  • Language Tutorial III Logic (3 units)
  • Math Tutorial IV Astronomy (3 units)
  • Intermediate Latin 1 (3 units)
  • Intermediate Latin 2 (3 units)
  • Roman Historians (3 units)
  • Patristic Latin (3 units)
  • Roman Comedy (3 units)
  • Roman Law (3 units)
  • Latin Lyric Poetry (3 units)
  • Cicero (3 units)
  • Virgil (3 units)
  • Special Study (1-4 units)
  • Origins of Christianity (3 units)
  • Elementary Ancient Greek 1 (3 units)
  • Elementary Ancient Greek 2 (3 units)
  • Intermediate Ancient Greek 1 (3 units)
  • Intermediate Ancient Greek 2 (3 units)
  • GREEK Elective (1-5 units)
  • Greek Historians (3 units)
  • Greek Orators (3 units)
  • Greek Dramatists (3 units)
  • Greek Lyric Poets (3 units)
  • Aristotle (3 units)
  • New Testament Greek (3 units)
  • GREEK UD Elective (1-5 units)
  • Plato (3 units)
  • Homer (3 units)
  • Special Study (1-4 units)
  • Elementary Latin 1 (3 units)
  • Elementary Latin 2 (3 units)
  • Intermediate Latin 1 (3 units)
  • Intermediate Latin 2 (3 units)
  • LATIN Elective (1-5 units)
  • Roman Historians (3 units)
  • Patristic Latin (3 units)
  • Roman Comedy (3 units)
  • Roman Law (3 units)
  • Latin Lyric Poetry (3 units)
  • LATIN UD Elective (1-5 units)
  • Cicero (3 units)
  • Virgil (3 units)
  • Special Study (1-4 units)

What’s Happening Now

six Dante club students standing with Italian Professor De Angelis
School of Liberal Arts
Dante Club earns National Grant from the Italian American Foundation
Saint Mary's Italian Club selected as one of twenty clubs in the nation for NIAF Campus Partnership...
Isabelle Ly '27 in the library
NewsCenter
In Their Own Words: Isabelle Ly ’27 on the Summer Internship That Opened the Door to a Career in Education
SMC’s Liberal Arts Bridge Program gave her the opportunity to intern at an education nonprofit...
Japanese and East Asian Studies
School of Liberal Arts
Success Stories: A Journey from Study Abroad to Inspiring Future Educators
Cecilia Vanderveen is spending her Spring 2024 semester in Tokyo through Saint...
School of Liberal Arts
Success Stories: Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve
Saint Mary’s alumna Michelle Batista ’02, MA ’05, joined Lake Tahoe Community College this summer...

Related Programs

Classical Languages, BA
Classical Studies Minor
Integral Curriculum of Liberal Arts, BA

School and Department Information

Classical Languages Department
School of Liberal Arts

© 2026 Saint Mary’s College of California