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Degree	Master of Arts
Application required	access-restricted
Course commences	winter semester / summer semester
Standard course duration	4 semesters
Format options	full-time only
Language requirements	certified proficiency in Greek (on master thesis registration)
Language of instruction	German
Other features	Postgradualer Studiengang (konsekutiv)

Faculty of Philosophy

 

Course outline

This M.A. course is concerned with the Latin texts of Antiquity that have come down to us. Its main purpose is to equip students with comprehensive and profound knowledge of these texts, acquaint them with a wide range of interpretation methods (linguistic and literary) and indicate interesting points in common with neighbouring disciplines (Ancient Greek, modern literary studies, philosophy, theology, cultural studies, etc.). The M.A. course in Latin is designed to instil in students a methodologically sound understanding of Latin texts (including those of a more specialist nature) against the background of the history of Latin (and Ancient Greek) literature and with appropriate awareness of their original contexts and later impact.

The course enables students are expected to acquire the ability to apply scholarly methods and insights, to live up to established academic standards in their work and to achieve a structured overview of the subject they are studying.

 

Course structure

Taught classes take up the first three semesters, the fourth semester is reserved for completion of the M.A. thesis. The total number of credit points (compulsory and elective) that students need for their M.A. degree is 120.

The course is modular in its structure. A distinction is made between a) compulsory modules (these have to be attended by all students), b) elective-compulsory modules (students select these from a limited number of offerings) and c) elective modules (students select these freely from the total range of offerings). Successful completion of a module requires a grade of at least 4.0 (= “adequate”) for all the relevant parts of that module (part-grades). Credit points are awarded for successfully completed modules. One credit point is equivalent to 30 hours of work. At the end of each semester students are given a transcript of records in which all the (part) examinations for the module are recorded with the respective credit points and grades. Of the total of 120 credit points, 70 are accounted for by the classes in the Latin course proper and the final oral examination, 20 by the student’s subsidiary subject and 30 by the M.A. thesis. In Latin as a subsidiary (minor) subject, the 20 CPs required are accounted for by classwork.

You will find an overview of the individual modules in the Examination Regulations (see below).

Subsidiary (minor) subject

In this course, 20 credit points are accounted for by a subsidiary (minor) subject. Here you will find a list of all subsidiary subjects on offer.

The M.A. course in Classical Philology (Latin) can also be studied as a subsidiary (minor) subject accounting for 20 CP.

 

Main research interests

Literary Studies

The chair of literary studies (Latin) focuses its research on the history of literature in Latin and the reception accorded to that literature in the European context. As an integral part of general and comparative literary studies, research on literature in Latin inquires into the categorial preconditions that make scholarly statements about aesthetic and cultural phenomena possible in the first place. Is it in fact legitimate to speak of “history” and “literature” in the Hellenistic-Roman cultural context? How does the historiography of ancient literature in Latin actually function – and what is “literature”? What procedures underlie oral and written speech, what is a theme, what status is accorded to literary texts and to authors and orators? Based on the close reading of texts, we are working on a method designed to reveal the structural properties peculiar to late republican literature, including the epochs of Augustus and Nero. This method is a novel approach to the historiography of literature, an “archaeology of modernity” that eschews anachronisms and homes in on the potential “modernity” of the ancient literature that has come down to us.

Linguistics

In the study of Ancient Greek and Latin, linguistics figures as a sub-discipline of Classical Philology that is closely connected with the study of literature (this proximity to literary studies is grounded largely in the use of structuralist procedures in textual analysis and narratology). With its strongly systematic and historical bias, the linguistic component is dedicated to the formal description of textual constituents of all kinds, its main emphasis naturally being language itself. Another of its tasks is to elucidate the language theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans, which are still of seminal significance for present-day language studies both in Europe and elsewhere. These theories are implicit in the wealth of disquisitions on grammar, rhetoric, poetics and language philosophy that have come down to us. A further concern is the analysis of prosody and metre in Greek and Roman poetry. Scholarly editing and textual criticism are also a major focus.

 

Formal requirements

Zulassung

Access to the course is restricted. The current Admission Regulations are available here.

Prospective students from Germany

Prospective students from Germany can enrol without prior application at the Central University Administration building by the beginning of the lecture period. To matriculate, they are required to show a written statement of admission issued by the representative of the Master’s programme they wish to attend, confirming that the requirements set out in the Admission Regulations have been met. Please apply to the Department of Classical Philology for further information on how to proceed.

International prospective students

Prospective students from other countries must apply in writing, so that their previous academic record can be verified. The deadlines for international applicants are 15 June for the winter semester and 15 November for the summer semester. Applications must be addressed directly to the International Relations Office. Please use the M.A. application form here and enclose the necessary documents.

Further information

Current information on procedure

Study and examination regulations

Examination regulations M.A. (4 April 2007)
Examination regulations M.A. (26 March 2015)

Module Handbook

Please click here to find the latest Module Handbook.

Examination boards

Issues arising in connection with examinations, credit transfer and academic credential recognition are dealt with by the relevant examinations board/office. For more information, consult the academic advisor(s) indicated below.

Tuition fees

Tuition fees at Heidelberg University are payable at the beginning of each semester.

 

Academic advisor

Christian Haß
Sandgasse 5-7, ZG Office 007
69118 Heidelberg
phone: +49 (0)6221-54-2556
e-mail: christian.hass@skph.uni-heidelberg.de
office hours: monday 12:00am (by appointment via e-mail)

 

Contact

Department of Classical Philology
Marstallhof 2-4
D-69117 Heidelberg

Secretaries:

phone: +49 (0)6221 542265
fax: +49 (0)6221 543381
e-mail: sekretariat@skph.uni-heidelberg.de
Internet: www.klassische-philologie.uni-hd.de

Location