Classics and Czech

Classics and Czech (with Slovak) is a degree that brings together two of the most distinctive and rewarding areas of linguistic and cultural study available at university. Classics gives you deep engagement with the ancient Greek and Roman worlds through their languages and literatures, reading texts of extraordinary range and enduring influence in Latin and ancient Greek. Czech, alongside Slovak, opens access to one of Central Europe's most vital literary and cultural traditions, associated with writers of international significance and with a political and social history that has shaped the twentieth century in fundamental ways.

At the University of Oxford, Classics and Modern Languages enables you to combine the study of Latin and ancient Greek with a modern language through extensive engagement with major literary texts alongside rigorous training in linguistic skills. The Greeks and Romans were active throughout the regions covered by the modern languages on offer, and this programme allows you to examine how classical literature and culture shaped their modern counterparts, comparing texts from both sides of the course to understand the transmission and transformation of ideas across millennia. The degree runs over four years on a full-time basis, developing both your ancient and modern language skills progressively while engaging you with the cultural and intellectual traditions of each.

This is an unusual and intellectually demanding combination that develops exceptional skills in philological analysis, cultural interpretation, and cross-period reasoning. Graduates build careers in academia, publishing, the civil service, diplomacy, journalism, education, and the cultural sector, as well as in international organisations with Central and Eastern European connections. Postgraduate study in classics, Slavonic studies, comparative literature, or linguistics provides routes to further specialisation for those who wish to continue their academic development.