Classical Studies

Classical studies is the discipline that investigates the ancient Mediterranean world: the civilisations of Greece and Rome, their predecessors, and their neighbours and successors, from the Bronze Age cultures of Minoa and Mycenae through the classical Greek and Hellenistic periods, Republican and Imperial Rome, and into the early Christian era. It draws on literary texts, archaeology, epigraphy, art history, and material culture to reconstruct the political, social, religious, and intellectual life of antiquity, and it traces how that ancient inheritance has shaped the Western cultural tradition from the Renaissance to the present day.

At the University of Kent, this three-year, full-time programme allows you to explore the cultures, myths, histories, and legacies of the ancient Mediterranean world in depth. You will study with researchers who are practising archaeologists and historians, encountering the discipline through the genuine scholarly questions that animate it rather than through a fixed canon of established knowledge. The programme ranges from the Minoan and Mycenaean periods through classical Greece and Republican Rome to early Christianity, developing your skills in textual analysis, archaeological interpretation, historical argument, and critical engagement with the ancient world and its modern reception.

A typical entry tariff of 120 points reflects an accessible admissions profile. Graduates from classical studies programmes go on to careers in museums and heritage organisations, archaeological fieldwork and cultural resource management, education, publishing, journalism, the civil service, and a wide range of other fields that value the combination of analytical rigour, historical breadth, and clear communication the discipline develops. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in classical studies, ancient history, archaeology, or heritage management, building on the foundational expertise developed at Kent.