Classics
Writing Intensive Classes
Students who have taken writing intensive classes should already have learned the following skills:
These skills may be regarded by all students as a base for further study. Help is available through the Neilson Library Reference Department's Ask a Librarian options.
What Should Classics Majors Know?
By the time of their graduation all Classics majors should understand how scholars of Classical Antiquity conduct research and how they communicate the results of their work to colleagues. One way of describing this understanding is “information literacy” – i.e. the ability to conceptualize what information is needed combined with the skills necessary to locate, evaluate, and effectively and ethically use this information.
Students in classics-in-translation courses should be able:
Reference Books : | Call Number/Access |
---|---|
Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th ed.) | ref DE 5 .O9 2012 or online |
Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization | ref DE 5 .O92 1998 or online |
Oxford Companion to Classical Literature | ref PA 31 .H69 1989 or online |
New Pauly Online | online |
Barrington Atlas | SC Neilson Ref Atlas Cases/1 North G1033 .B3 2000 |
Dictionaries | Library Location |
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SC Neilson Refeence/1 North & SC Neilson Caverno/3 Core |
|
Liddell-Scott-Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon | ref PA 445 .E5 L6 1996 CAVERNO PA 445 .E5 L6 1996 |
Glare, Oxford Latin Dictionary | ref PA 2365 .E5 O9 2012 CAVERNO PA 2365 .E5 O9 |
Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary | ref PA 2365 .E5 A7 1980 CAVERNO PA 2365 .E5 a7 1980 |
Grammars | SC Neilson Caverno/3 Core |
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Smyth, Greek Grammar | PA 258 .S63 1984 |
Bennett, A New Latin Grammar | PA 2087 .B5 2004 |
Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar | PA 2087 .A525 1992 |
Woodcock, A New Latin Syntax | PA 2285 .W6 1985 |
Databases | Links |
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The Five College Library Catalog - search for books at the Five Colleges | click here |
L'Année Philologique (1959+) covers all aspects of classical studies | click here |
WorldCat - search for books worldwide | click here |
Project Muse - full text of current journal issues | click here |
JSTOR - mostly back files of journals with some current coverage | click here |
In What Ways Will Student Skills be Assessed?
Whether their material is taught in the original or in English translation, all classics courses emphasize critical thinking, logical analysis, and the transferable skills of clear writing, articulate speaking, close reading, and sophisticated evaluation of evidence. At the elementary level these skills are measured by means of daily assignments, frequent quizzes, periodic exams, and short papers. At the intermediate level the same assessment tools are used, but the assignments become more demanding, the quizzes and exams less frequent, and the papers longer and more complex. At the advanced level an important index of progress is a long paper, involving a significant research component and preceded by an oral presentation. Advanced classics courses thus function as capstones or seminars.
Ethical Issues
An 'ethical use of information' means to make a clear distinction between received knowledge and the production of new knowledge. The incorporation of the work of others into his or her own must comply with such distinction. Therefore, every written and/or oral work in the discipline must clearly state its source, if it has any.
March 28, 2013