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.
Semesters | ||||
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CoursesCourse Catalog > | 1a | 1b | 2a | 2b |
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 |
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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. |
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. |
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 programme | Organization | Transition |
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Archaeology | All Research universities | No additional requirements |
History (part-time) | All Research universities | No additional requirements |
Classics (part-time) | All Research universities | No additional requirements |
Study programme | Organization | Transition |
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Archaeology | University of Groningen | No additional requirements |
History (part-time) | University of Groningen | No additional requirements |
Classics (part-time) | University of Groningen | No additional requirements |
American Studies | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
Communication and Information Studies | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
Arts, Culture and Media | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
Art History | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
Information Science | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
English Language and Culture | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
European Languages and Cultures | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
Media Studies | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
Dutch Language and Culture | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
Middle Eastern Studies | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
Minorities & Multilingualism | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
Linguistics | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
International Relations and International Organization | University of Groningen |
Additional requirements More information:With a Pre-Master/ Minor (30 ECTS) in Classics and Ancient Civilization. |
Specific requirements | More information |
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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. |
Type of student | Deadline | Start course |
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Dutch students | 15 August 2024 | 01 September 2024 |
15 August 2025 | 01 September 2025 | |
EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
non-EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
Specific requirements | More 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. |
Type of student | Deadline | Start course |
---|---|---|
Dutch students | 15 August 2024 | 01 September 2024 |
15 August 2025 | 01 September 2025 | |
EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
non-EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
Nationality | Year | Fee | Programme form |
---|---|---|---|
EU/EEA | 2024-2025 | € 2530 | full-time |
non-EU/EEA | 2024-2025 | € 18700 | full-time |
Practical information for:
After completing the Master's track, you will have acquired not only a more thorough understanding of the ancient world, but also several transferable skills, such as thinking in a critical and problem-oriented way or processing large amounts of information and presenting the outcomes with great clarity. This skill set is highly valued by employers in many different sectors. Our graduates have found work in journalism, editing and publishing, politics, governmental organisations, or business. Those who preferred to apply their knowledge of the ancient world more directly, have found employment in e.g. a museum or academic library.
Following this one-year MA programme also leaves open the option of becoming a secondary-school teacher. You can obtain a qualification by following the one-year postmaster LHVO at the college of education (NB this postmaster requires a minimum level of proficiency in Dutch: NT2 programme II).
Research in the Ancient History department in Groningen focuses on the connectivities of the Mediterranean world, from the Classical Greek world to the Late Roman empire. We have expertise in interdisciplinary approaches that combine written and material sources (including inscriptions) and innovative methods (network analysis, agent-based modelling).
All of our staff are active researchers involved in various projects. Onno van Nijf and Christina Williamson directed the project Connecting the Greeks on the development of festival networks in the Hellenistic world (see also their online database Connected Contests with information on the careers of the most important athletes of antiquity). On her website Deep Mapping Sanctuaries , Christina uses the new method of deep mapping to produce ‘spatial narratives‘ of what festival sites meant to different people in Hellenistic and early Imperial Asia Minor. Jeremia Pelgrom works on the history of colonisation, co-directing projects on mapping the Via Appia and landscapes of early colonisation in Italy in the mid-Republican period. In her current project Rebecca Van Hove examines the role of writing and the function of written records in ancient Greek religion. Bart Danon works on several projects related to the socio-economic history of the Roman Empire, with a focus on inequality, slavery and urbanisation. Chris Dickenson is interested in public space, statues and monuments in Hellenistic and Roman Greece with a special focus on cultural heritage.
The department is a member of OIKOS , the National Research School in Classical Studies and participates in Anchoring Innovation , the large research agenda of OIKOS. Postdoctoral researcher Gavin Blasdel studies the language of emotions and gender in the imperial Greek city and Marlena Whiting works on the Christianization and Urban life in the Hellenized cities of the Southern Levant . Many of our PhD and MA students are also involved in the CRASIS Ancient World Seminar .
For more about the research of the Ancient History department at Groningen, see our research website or Facebook .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
See here for a list of all Ancient History staff members.