Literae Humaniores - Lit. Hum. at Oxford

Lit. Hum. At Oxford

The University of Oxford's classics course — also known as "Greats" — is divided into two parts, lasting five terms and seven terms respectively, the whole lasting four years in total, which is one year more than most arts degrees at Oxford and other English universities.

The course of studies leads to a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree. Throughout, there is a strong emphasis on first hand study of primary sources in the original Greek or Latin.

In the first part (Honour Moderations or Mods) students concentrate on Latin and/or Greek language; in the second part, students choose eight papers from the varied disciplines of Classical Literature, Greek, and Roman history, Philosophy, Archaeology, and Linguistics. The teaching style is very traditional and consists of weekly tutorials in each of the two main subjects chosen, supplemented by a wide variety of lectures. The main teaching mechanism remains the weekly essay, one on each of the two main chosen subjects, typically written to be read out at a one-to-one tutorial; this affords all students plenty of practice at writing short, clear, and well-researched papers.

Despite recent changes, there is still a strong emphasis on study of the original texts in Latin and Greek, which are examined by prepared translation and by gobbet. In a typical "text" paper candidates will be expected first to translate into English three or four long passages selected by the examiners from the set books; and secondly to comment on each of an extended set of short paragraphs or sentences from the same set texts; marks are awarded for recognising the context and the significance of each excerpt.