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Education Master's and PhD degree programmes Classics & Ancient Civilizations Ancient History
Header image Ancient History

Ancient History

How did colonisation shape ancient states? What was the role of gods and their temples in identity formation? How unequal were ancient societies? What was the social significance of sport in the ancient world?

These are the types of questions that lie at the core of the Ancient History track of the MA Classics and Ancient Civilizations. The emphasis of the programme is on political, economic, and religious connectivities within the Mediterranean world, from the Classical Greek world to the fall of the western Roman Empire (roughly 500 BCE to 500 CE).

This one-year programme offers you the opportunity to study the ancient world at an advanced level, working with a wide variety of historical evidence (e.g. literary texts, inscriptions, archaeological remains, papyri). During your studies you will also become acquainted with several different theoretical approaches and methodologies (e.g. deep mapping, network analysis).

This Master's track is taught in English and can be studied full-time as well as part-time. For more information about the Ancient History department in Groningen, see our website. If you aspire a career in research, you may be interested in the two-year Research Master's.

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Facts & Figures
Degree
MA in Classics & Ancient Civilizations
Course type
Master
Duration
12 months (60 ECTS)
Croho code
60821
Language of instruction
English
Start
September
Faculty
Arts
Why study this programme in Groningen?
  • An academic humanities degree that allows for a deep dive into Ancient History but also pays attention to the contemporary societal relevance of history.
  • A unique emphasis on the practical application of historical knowledge and methodologies, with a particular focus on interdisciplinarity.
  • You have access to the resources of a large research university but with the benefits of studying in a relatively small department: class sizes are small and we are a personable, friendly community.
  • An internationally oriented and active research environment: all our staff are experts in their subjects and we organise and host regular research seminars, workshops and conferences.
  • Flexibility in the programme: with a range of electives you can design your programme to meet your ambitions and interests.
  • A vibrant, international research university: the ideal environment to share ideas, gain new perspectives and meet like-minded individuals.
Programme
The core of the Ancient History programme consists of two advanced research seminars in Ancient History. One of these seminars focuses on Ancient Greek history and one on Roman history. Each year, one of these courses includes an excursion to either Greece or Italy, encouraging learning through immersion in the material remnants of the ancient past. 

This core programme is supplemented by a course on the interface of Ancient History with Classical languages as well as a range of optional modules, e.g. on Greek and Latin epigraphy. The elective modules allow you to engage with other disciplines, such as Religious Studies, Archaeology, Greek and Latin language and literature, or the study of other historical periods. These courses make the programme expressly interdisciplinary. 

All students conclude the programme by writing a thesis on a topic of Ancient History, supported by a supervisor and a thesis writing course.
Semesters
CoursesCourse Catalog >1a1b2a2b
Landscape and Memory (5 EC)
2 Research Seminar. Exploring Late Antiquity (10 EC)
Elective Greek epigraphy: Essay (5 EC, optional)
Elective Greek epigraphy: pensum (5 EC, optional)
GLTC Commentaarcollege Grieks en Latijn (10 EC, optional)
Track Ancient History and Culture (20 EC, optional)
Track Ancient History and Premodern Studies (20 EC, optional)
Track Ancient History and Religious Studies (20 EC, optional)
Masterstage Oudheidsstudies (10 EC, optional)
2 Research Seminar: Athletes and Oracles - Festival, sport and encounter in Ancient Greece (10 EC)
Ma-thesis Classics and Ancient Civilizations (20 EC)
Programme options
Ancient History and Culture (specialization)

This specialization gives you the opportunity to specialize in ancient history and ancient culture by selecting electives worth 20 ECTS.

Courses may be selected from MA programmes within the Faculty of Arts, such as History Today, Classical Studies, and Philosophy.

Ancient History and Religious Studies (specialization)

This specialization gives you the opportunity to specialize in ancient history and religious studies by selecting 20 ECTS worth of electives from course units on Religious Studies.

This track offers courses within the programme Politics, Religion, and Pluralism in which shifting and overlapping identities in the post-classical world are explored through thematic courses (see website). You can also write a thesis that combines Ancient History and Religious Studies.

More information about this option

Ancient History and Premodern History (specialization)

You can specialize in ancient history and premodern history by freely selecting your own package of electives of 20 ECTS total.

The specialization track Premodern History is a track within the Research Master Classical, Medieval and Early Modern Studies. This track offers research seminars and specialist courses on approaches.

More information about this option

Master's Placement (specialization)

This Master's track includes an optional work placement for which you are awarded ECTS credit points.

It is your responsibility to find a placement yourself, but the Office for Student Affairs can offer help with this where necessary.

Study abroad

  • Study abroad is optional
Entry requirements

Transfer options

Transferring from...

Study programmeOrganizationTransition
ArchaeologyAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
History (part-time)All Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Classics (part-time)All Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Study programmeOrganizationTransition
ArchaeologyUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
History (part-time)University of GroningenNo additional requirements
Classics (part-time)University of GroningenNo additional requirements
American StudiesUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

Communication and Information StudiesUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

Arts, Culture and MediaUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

Art HistoryUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

Information ScienceUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

English Language and CultureUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

European Languages and CulturesUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

Media StudiesUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

Dutch Language and CultureUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

Middle Eastern StudiesUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

Minorities & MultilingualismUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

LinguisticsUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

International Relations and International OrganizationUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization.

Admission requirements

Specific requirementsMore information
previous education

Student with a Bachelor's degree in Classics, Archaeology, History or other relevant programme from a Research University are directly admissible to this Master's programme. Knowledge of Classical languages is not required (but we doo offer optional courses in beginners' Latin and Greek). Students with a different Bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Groningen, who have completed the Pre-Master/ Minor Classics and Ancient Civilization (30 ECTS) are also admissible to the Master's track. Students who wish to transfer from other programmes may apply if they have taken c. 30 ECTS in relevant courses. It is also possible to gain entry via a pre-Masters' trajectory.

language test

Additional requirements English: A VWO diploma or a subject certificate for VWO English (mark 6 or higher), minimum requirement of TOEFL iBT 90 (with a minimum of 21 on all items), or IELTS 6.5 (with a minimum of 6 on all items). Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 180.

Application deadlines

Type of studentDeadlineStart course
Dutch students15 August 202401 September 2024
15 August 202501 September 2025
EU/EEA students01 May 202401 September 2024
01 May 202501 September 2025
non-EU/EEA students01 May 202401 September 2024
01 May 202501 September 2025

Admission requirements

Specific requirementsMore information
previous education

Student with a Bachelor's degree in Classics, Archaeology or History from a Research University are directly admissible to this Master's programme. Students with a different Bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Groningen, who have completed the pre-Master/ Minor Classics and Ancient Civilization (30 ECTS) are also admissible to the Master's track.

language test

Additional requirements English: A VWO diploma or a subject certificate for VWO English (mark 6 or higher), minimum requirement of TOEFL iBT 90 (with a minimum of 21 on all items), or IELTS 6.5 (with a minimum of 6 on all items). Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 180.

Application deadlines

Type of studentDeadlineStart course
Dutch students15 August 202401 September 2024
15 August 202501 September 2025
EU/EEA students01 May 202401 September 2024
01 May 202501 September 2025
non-EU/EEA students01 May 202401 September 2024
01 May 202501 September 2025
Tuition fees
NationalityYearFeeProgramme form
EU/EEA2023-2024€ 2314full-time
non-EU/EEA2023-2024€ 16000full-time
EU/EEA2024-2025€ 2530full-time
non-EU/EEA2024-2025€ 18700full-time

Practical information for:

After your studies

Job prospects

Upon graduation students hold a (60 ECTS) MA degree in Classics and Ancient Civilizations with a track in Ancient History from the UG. A student's career after that depends on the kind of person they are. However all graduates possess a broad knowledge of the history of the Greek and Roman World on the basis of different types of sources.

They have, moreover, critical thinking skills and are experts in analyzing problems from the perspective of different cultures and periods. Having a multiperspectival view is an asset in the contemporary world.

A degree in Classics and Ancient Civilizations (Ancient History) can therefore be the starting point of different types of jobs. Many of the skills an Ancient History MA teaches are transferable. You will probably find that your analytical competence, ability to write, and capacity to solve problems will significantly improve after completing an MA degree.

We encourage our students to complete a 10 EC internship in a field of their interest.

With your MA-degree you could become a policy consultant, or work as editor, journalist or in a museum. You may also choose to pursue a career as lecturer or researcher in higher education.

Our programme prepares students for, for instance, the following jobs:

Job examples

  • Historical Researcher
  • Policy Officer
  • Educator
  • Project Manager
  • Lecturer at a University (of applied sciences)
  • Editor or Publisher
Research

University of Groningen research on Ancient History covers a wide range, from the Greek Classical period up to and including the Late Roman Empire, and from religion and political representation to network theory.

We are part of the large History department, which provides us with many opportunities for comparative teaching and research. In addition we enjoy the full advantages of the diverse Groningen expertise in Classical Studies: a thriving Classical Studies department, a good Mediterranean Archaeology department, and a prominent Faculty of Theology. We collaborate intensively with all of these departments in our teaching and research.

Our permanent staff are all active and internationally published researchers with research experience abroad and many international contacts. Our research projects are organised under the title Political Culture, Religion and Identities from the Hellenistic Period to Late Antiquity. Our research takes place under OIKOS, the National Research School in Classical Studies, and is locally subsumed under ICOG, the Groningen Research Institute for the Study of Culture, and CRASIS, Culture, Religion and Society in the Ancient World. We are partners in Anchoring Innovation, the research initiative of the research school OIKOS which was awarded a gravitation grant that will allow us to initiate exciting new research projects.

Prof van Nijf and Dr Williamson were recently awarded a 4 year grant for their project Connecting the Greeks that investigates the development of festival networks in the Hellenistic world; this project continues to expand the project Connected Contests, the online database of athletes in the ancient world.

Dr Jan Willem Drijvers has been the recipient for numerous grants and fellowships for his work on Late Antiquity, among others from the National Humanities Center and Dumbarton Oaks in the USA, in Oxford, Göttingen, Yale, Jerusalem and Sydney.

Dr Jeremia Pelgrom has co-directed two projects from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) that focus on mapping the Via Appia and landscapes of early colonization in Italy in the mid-Republican period.

Our teaching and research are characterized by a focus on interdisciplinary approaches. In our research projects, we work together with archaeologists, classical studies experts and religious studies experts, and most of our PhD students are supervised in collaboration with experts from these disciplines. We are also involved in supervising PhD students from other departments.

There is an active group of PhD students at the Ancient History department and neighbouring departments. Recent and current PhD projects include the following:

  • Inscriptions as a medium of Hellenistic globalization
  • Finding the Present in the Distant Past: The Cultural Meaning of Antiquarianism in Late Antiquity
  • Patronage and social hierarchies in Rome
  • Cultural identities in in the Latin colonies of Central Italy
  • Emperors and decurions in Italy (27 BC - AD 68)
  • City and sanctuary in Hellenistic Asia Minor
  • Societal Changes reflected in material culture: the Greek agora in the Hellenistic and Roman periods
  • Citizens, elites and benefactors: The politics of generosity in Roman Asia Minor

Our PhD and Research MA students are involved the CRASIS Ancient World Seminar.

For more about Ancient History in Groningen, see our website.

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Contact

University of Groningen Orange Tulip Scholarship/Talent Grant of Faculty of Arts

Are you a non-EU/EEA student from Russia, India or Indonesia, starting a Master's programme at the Faculty of Arts? If so, you could qualify for the University of Groningen OTS/Talent Grant, Faculty of Arts, a partial scholarship which helps you to finance your studies.

Read more about the OTS/ Talent Grant Faculty of Arts

Staff

See here for a list of all Ancient History staff members.


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Study associations

Ubbo Emmius

Ubbo Emmius is the study association of the History department at the University of Groningen.
The association organizes a broad set of activities year-round. These can vary from social, study related, career or even activities that focus on all together. Not only this, but you can also get a nice discount on all your study books if you order them through us. The organization of the activities lies, for the main part, with the 17 committees that Ubbo has. There is for example the Career Committee, the Party Committee, the Travel Committee and the list goes on. All in all being a member of Ubbo is a great addition to your time as a student! For a full overview of who we are and what we do, you can take a look on our website or social media.
https://www.ubbo-emmius.nl/home
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