Study Classics at Otago

Hi, I’m Scott Bezett, and I studied a Bachelor of Arts & Science here at the University of Otago. I’m now doing my honours in Classics in the Classics program here.

I came to Otago and the Classics department in particular after having the opportunity to meet a bunch of lecturers at the tertiary open day a few years ago and realised that they’re just so passionate about what they’re teaching. I think that really drew me to the subject.

The best thing about Classics at Otago is that every semester is a little bit different. You’re always exploring lots of different elements of the classical world—the ancient world—with lecturers who are really passionate about what they’re teaching. We also have really small class sizes, which means that your lecturers get to know you, and you get to really engage with the material in quite an intimate setting, which is really nice as well.

Hi everyone, I’m Dr. Gwynaeth McIntyre, and I’m a senior lecturer in the Classics program here at the University of Otago.

Classics is the study of the language, literature, history, philosophy, politics, and archaeology of the Greeks and Romans. What this means is that our program really complements other BA disciplines. In fact, many of our students pair their BA in Classics together with a Law degree. There’s lots of flexibility and lots of intersection between what we do and what other programs do.

Because we study the language and literature of the Greeks and Romans, you can do all of that in translation, but we also teach Ancient Greek and Latin from scratch. So, if you want to read the actual words left to us by those societies, you can. If you’ve had the luxury of doing Latin at school, we can fast-track you into upper-level language classes, so you don’t have to start from scratch.

We’re also lucky here to have the Otago Museum, which has an excellent Classics teaching collection. Many of the artefacts from the Greeks and Romans come into our classrooms from that collection.

Here at Otago, we’re known for our teaching excellence. In the last student survey done by the Quality Advancement Unit, we ranked highest in all eight of the teaching categories surveyed. We’re also pleased to announce that in the most recent (2020) QS World Rankings for university subjects, we are the top-ranked Classics program in New Zealand and one of the top 50 in the world.

As a first-year student coming to Otago, you get to learn about Greek mythology—how the Greeks talk about their gods and their heroes, but also how they manipulate some of those stories to suit their own political agendas and construct local identities.

You can be guided by our field archaeologists through the monumental buildings of the Greeks and Romans. Or, if you’re interested in learning a little bit more about some of the marginalised groups in Roman society, you can look at the lives of slaves, gladiators, prostitutes, and bandits.