Ancient Languages and Cultures

Our Program

The Ancient Languages and Cultures graduate program (ALC) is closely affiliated with the History department graduate program. Candidates seeking admission to the ALC program should apply to the graduate program in History. The goal of the ALC program is to prepare students for success at a PhD-granting institution in a field that requires knowledge of at least one ancient language. Students spend about a third of their time studying ancient language, another third exploring historical methods and their application to a broad range of issues and venues, and a final third writing a thesis or long paper which can be used as a writing sample when they apply to the schools where they hope to complete a doctorate. It is our intention that ALC students will improve their chances for future success in academia by honing linguistic skills and learning best practices in historical research.

If you have questions or wish to explore the ALC program further, please email Prof. Mark Damen (mark.damen@usu.edu).

ALC FAQs
Sample Course Schedule

What do we mean by “Ancient Languages and Cultures”?

The study of any historical period that includes documents and texts written in an ancient tongue, e.g. Latin, Greek, Arabic, Sanskrit and others, requires reading knowledge of that language in order to conduct advanced research. Professionals who work in such fields need both linguistic and historical training, which is what we mean when we say you will be studying “languages and cultures.”

What type of students might opt for the ALC program?

It is our aim to provide a leg up to students whose undergraduate preparation did not equip them fully for work at a professional level. In other words, we’ll buy you some time to acquire the skills necessary to succeed in a PhD program and be competitive for scholarships, travel grants and other educational opportunities.

So please consider applying to our program if you:

Are passionate about the ancient world in any respect.
Love teaching and communicating that passion to others.
Feel a deep connection to the past and how it underlies and informs the world around us.
Want to explore new data about and new ways of understanding our ancient heritage.
Hope to work in a profession that curates the oldest and deepest traditions of human civilization.

What kinds of classes do ALC students take?

ALC students take graduate courses in both history and language. Along with those, they also pursue research interests which result in a thesis or long paper that can be used as a writing sample in graduate school applications. All students begin the program with seminars in historical methods and theory along with seminars where they apply those skills to specific issues or time periods in the past. While taking those classes, they also enroll in courses focusing on ancient authors and participate in language labs where they read as-yet untranslated documents in an ancient language.

What should be included when applying to the ALC program?

Besides the information that the Graduate School and the Department of History require, candidates for the ALC program should include in their personal statement an overview of the ancient languages courses they’ve taken, especially the authors and texts they’ve read. It would also be helpful to have a sense of a candidate’s future plans and which PhD-granting institutions he or she plans to apply to after completing a Master’s here.

What type of jobs do ALC students get after completing their degree?

The goal of the ALC program is to enhance a student’s chance not only to complete advanced work at a PhD-granting institution but also to succeed in the larger academic community after receiving a doctorate. The broad education these degrees will provide opens the possibility for work in a number of fields, including:

Academic Programs
Historical Societies
Museums
Archives
Libraries and Databases

Fall	Spring	Fall	Spring
HIST 6000 (3 cr.)	HIST 6010 vel sim. (3 cr.)	Thesis (3 cr.)	Thesis (3 cr.)
*HIST Seminar (3 cr.)	*HIST Seminar (3 cr.)	Language Course (3 cr.)	**Language Lab or Course (3 cr.)
Language Course (3 cr.)	Language Course (3 cr.)

*In consultation with a student's graduate committee and the ALC program coordinator, classwork completed outside the department may be used to fill three of these credits. Possible options include courses in art history, folklore, gender studies, oral history, museum studies, environmental history, paleography, and philosophy.

**The Ancient Language Lab (ALC 6800) is offered every term. Students who have completed three terms receive three credits. So in effect students take the Lab every term (except their last when they’re writing their thesis) but receive credit only after they have finished their third Lab class.

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Brad Hansen