Croesus epigram

MA Program

1.1. Advising

The progress of students in the MA Program (including course selection) is supervised by the Graduate Advisor for Classical Archaeology (GA), who is a member of the classical archaeology faculty (i.e., those members of the faculty of the Department who are archaeologists). Upon entry into the Program the student selects a personal advisor (PA), who is a member of the classical archaeology faculty and may be the same person as the GA. The student may elect to change his/her PA at any time while in the MA Program. The student should meet with the GA during the advising period of each semester to discuss his/her performance and progress in the Program; course selections for the following semester; and plans for the near and long-term future. The student should meet with his/her PA to discuss these and any other matters of professional interest on a regular basis.

1.2. Course units

A student in the MA Program must enroll for a minimum of 12 course units each semester in order to have full-time status.

At UC Berkeley, upper-division courses (which bear numbers in the series 100-199 and are open to both advanced undergraduates and graduate students) normally count for 4 units. In the Department of Classics (and certain other departments at UC Berkeley) graduate seminars (which normally bear numbers in the series 200-299) may in many cases be taken either as a full seminar for a letter grade and 4 units or as an S/U seminar for just 2 units, in which case the student normally fulfills a reduced set of course requirements.

1.3. Coursework requirements

For the MA in classical archaeology a student is required to complete 20 units, including the following:

  • Proseminar in Classical Archaeology and Ancient Art (Classics 204) (4 units)
  • One graduate seminar on a topic in Greek archaeology (4 units)
  • One graduate seminar on a topic in Roman archaeology (4 units)
  • Eight additional units (normally 2 4-unit courses) on topics related to classical archaeology offered in any two of the following programs: AHMA, Anthropology, Classics, History, History of Art, Near Eastern Studies (8 units)

In the event that the set of courses offered within the Department during a student’s two years in the MA Program does not permit him/her to fulfill the letter of these requirements he/she may substitute other suitable courses with the approval of the GA.

Students are advised to choose their elective courses with the PhD Program requirements in mind, as coursework undertaken at the MA level can be applied towards the satisfaction of requirements at the PhD level.

1.4. Fieldwork requirement

Before the beginning of the 3rd semester, the student is required to complete one field season (4 or more weeks) with a research project conducted somewhere within the geographical compass of the Greco-Roman world (broadly defined) that focuses on the Greek and/or Roman periods. This may involve excavation, surface survey, the description and analysis of archaeological materials in a storeroom, laboratory or museum, or some combination of these. (Fieldwork undertaken by the student prior to entry into the Program can be applied to satisfy this requirement at the discretion of the GA.)

1.5. Modern research language requirement

The student is required to pass one modern research language exam demonstrating his or her ability to read scholarly literature written in that language (German, French, Italian, or Modern Greek) as described for the PhD Program (See Section 2.2.6. below.)

The exam is set by the student’s PA. The student may sit for an exam in a specific language as often as one time per semester until passing, up to a maximum of three times. Failure to pass an exam in a specific language three times constitutes grounds for separation from the Program.

Exam format: Ninety-minute translation exam consisting of one passage on an archaeological topic, with the student having the option of translating ca. 300 words without the use of a dictionary or ca. 500 words with the use of a dictionary.

Exam evaluation: The exam is evaluated by the student’s PA and two other members of the faculty of the Department chosen by the GA. They can each award a grade of pass or fail, and confer to determine the overall grade in the event of a split evaluation. In order to be awarded a grade of pass the translation must represent a complete and accurate rendering of the passage.

1.6. Application to candidacy

The student files an Application for Advancement to Candidacy for the Master’s Degree (Plan 1 - Thesis) form with Graduate Division not later than the end of the fifth week of the semester in which he/she plans to receive the MA degree (normally the fourth semester). On this form the student must indicate a properly constituted MA thesis committee of three members, all of whom are members of the Academic Senate, at least two of whom are members of the faculty of the Department - of whom one (normally the student’s PA) is designated chair - and one of whom need not be a member of the faculty of the Department.

1.7. MA thesis requirement

The student is required to write a thesis of at least 30 and no more than 50 pages (including notes and bibliography) presenting original research on a topic in classical archaeology, submitting this no later than Week 13 of his/her fourth semester in the Program. The student selects the topic in consultation with the committee chair and researches and writes the paper under his/her supervision. The thesis may be a revision and expansion of a seminar paper. The completion of this requirement will normally involve the student enrolling in independent study (Classics 299) with the committee chair for 2-6 units during either his/her third or fourth semester in the Program.

The members of the committee indicate their approval of the thesis by signing its signature page.

1.8. Student reviews

1.8.1. Third semester review

After the end of the student’s second semester in the Program and before the end of Week 7 of his/her third semester the classical archaeology faculty meet with the student to consider his/her performance in the Program during the first two semesters, evaluating this as excellent, good, adequate, or inadequate. They also formulate a preliminary, non-binding estimation of the likelihood that an application for advancement to the PhD Program on the part of the student would be successful. The GA prepares a brief written statement for the student’s file communicating this evaluation, indicating any specific areas in which improvement is advised on his/her part.

1.8.2. Final review/advancement to PhD Program

During Week 15 of the student’s fourth semester in the Program the classical archaeology faculty meet to evaluate the student’s overall performance in the MA Program and the likelihood that he/she would be able to complete the PhD Program. This takes into consideration the student’s performance in coursework, fieldwork, the modern language exam, and MA thesis. On the basis of this evaluation the faculty determine whether or not he student has successfully completed requirements for the MA degree and, in the case of students who submit a letter to the GA indicating that they wish to be considered for this, whether or not to advance the student to the PhD Program.

A student who has failed to complete any of the MA Program’s requirements may at the discretion of the classical archaeology faculty be accorded one additional semester to complete these requirements. In any such case the calendar for a repeat final review will follow that indicated above for the fourth semester. Failure to complete all requirements by the end of the fifth semester constitutes grounds for separation from the Program without award of the MA degree.

1.8. Additional recommendations

For various recommendations pertinent to students in the MA Program see Section 2.3 below.

1.9. Sample timeline

The following is a timeline showing a student’s hypothetical progress through the MA Program. It assumes that each semester the student will enroll in three 4-unit courses in order to reach the 12 units required for full-time status. This is meant to offer a general idea of what a program of study might look like. Any student’s actual program of study may depart from this scheme due to variation in course offerings in any given semester.

Year 1

Financial support: fellowship

Semester 1

  • Course 1: Proseminar (Classics 204) (4 units)
  • Course 2: Greek Archaeology seminar (4 units)
  • Course 3: Elective (4 units)

Semester 2

Modern research language exam

  • Course 1: Roman Archaeology seminar (4 units)
  • Course 2: Elective (4 units)
  • Course 3: Elective (4 units)

Summer

Participation in archaeological fieldwork

Year 2

Financial support: fellowship

Semester 3

Third-semester review

  • Course 1: Course related to classical archaeology (4 units)
  • Course 2: Elective (4 units)
  • Course 3: Elective (4 units)

Semester 4

  • Course 1: Course related to classical archaeology (4 units)
  • Course 2: Independent study (Classics 299) (4 units)
  • Course 3: Elective (4 units)

Submission of MA thesis

Final review/advancement to PhD Program

Receipt of MA