Honour School of Literae Humaniores
A
1. The Branches of the Honour School of Literae Humaniores shall be (I) Greek and Roman History, (II) Philosophy, (III) Ancient Greek and Latin Literature, (IV) Greek and Roman Archaeology, (V) Philology and Linguistics, (VI) Classical Languages.
2. No candidate shall be admitted to the examination in this school unless they have either passed or been exempted from the First Public Examination.
3. The examination in this school shall be under the joint supervision of the Boards of the Faculties of Classics and Philosophy, which shall appoint a joint standing committee to make regulations concerning it and review its operation, subject always to the preceding clauses of this subsection.
B
1. Candidates must offer eight subjects. They may also offer an Optional Additional Thesis (VII).
2. The course handbook will list the subjects available under I-VI, any restrictions on the permissible combinations for each subject, and the details of assessment for each subject.
3. All candidates must offer at least four text-based subjects, or at least three if they are taking Beginners’ Ancient Greek or Beginners’ Latin. The subjects which qualify as text-based will be specified in the course handbook.
4. All candidates who offered both Ancient Greek and Latin in Honour Moderations in Classics must offer at least one text-based subject in each of Ancient Greek and Latin.
5. Any candidate whose first language is not English may bring a bilingual (first language to English) dictionary for use in any examination paper where candidates are required to translate Ancient Greek and/or Latin texts into English.
6. For each subject in I, II, III, IV, V and VI below, a detailed specification and (where applicable) prescribed texts will be given in the course handbook.
7. Extended essays for subjects 503, 507 and 519 must not exceed 6,000 words. Extended essays for subject 553 must not exceed 4,000 words. Candidates may offer only one of these subjects. Essay topics set by the examiners will be released on Monday of Week 6 of the Hilary Term of the final year of the Honour School and essays should be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform by 12 noon on Tuesday of Week 10 of the same term.
I Greek and Roman History
8. Candidates may offer up to five subjects or up to four if they are taking one Classical Language option from (a), (b), (c), or (d) under VI Classical Languages, or up to three if they are taking two options from (a), (b), (c), or (d) under VI Classical Languages.
9. Candidate must take a minimum number of period subjects if they are taking two or more Greek and Roman History subjects. If candidates take:
- two or three subjects, at least one must be a period subject;
- four subjects, at least two must be period subjects;
- five subjects, at least three must be period subjects.
10. Candidates who offered only Ancient Greek at Honour Moderations may take one period paper involving the study of Latin texts as non-text-based. Candidates who offered only Latin at Honour Moderations may take one period paper involving the study of Ancient Greek texts as non-text-based.
11. All papers in this section will be in person written examinations,with the exception of 499 Thesis in Ancient History.
II Philosophy
12. Candidates may offer up to five subjects in Philosophy, or up to four if they are taking one option from (a), (b), (c), or (d) under VI Classical Languages, or up to three if they are taking two options from (a), (b), (c), or (d) under VI Classical Languages. Each of these subjects will be examined in accordance withthe Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy.
13. If candidates offer:
- two or more Philosophy subjects, at least one must be in Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy.
- three or more subjects, they must also select one non-ancient Philosophy subject.
14. Candidates may only offer subject 199 (Thesis in Philosophy) if they are taking at least three other subjects in Philosophy.
III Greek and Latin Literature
15. Candidates may offer up to five subjects in Greek and Latin literature, or up to four if they are taking one option from (a), (b), (c), or (d) under VI Classical Languages or up to three if they are taking two options from (a), (b), (c), or (d) under VI Classical Languages.
16. All papers in this section will be in person written examinations, with the exception of:
- 503 Historiography and 507 Comedy – assessed by an extended essay and an in person written examination.
- 519 The Reception of Classical Literature in Poetry in English since 1900 – assessed by an extended essay.
- 599 Thesis in Literature.
IV Greek and Roman Archaeology
17. Candidates may offer one or two of subjects 601-605, and may also offer subject 699, Thesis in Greek and Roman Archaeology. They may offer subject 699 as their sole Archaeology subject.
18. All papers in this section will be in person written examinations,with the exception of 699 Thesis in Greek and Roman Archaeology.
V Philology and Linguistics
19. Candidates may offer one or two of subjects 551-554, and may also, if they wish offer subject 598, Thesis in Philology and Linguistics. They may offer subject 598 as their sole Philology and Linguistics subject.
20. All papers in this section will be in person written examinations,with the exception of:
i. 553 General Linguistics and Comparative Philology – assessed by an extended essay.
ii. 598 Thesis in Philology and Linguistics.
VI Classical Languages
21. All papers in this section will be in person written examinations.
22. The papers available are:
- 561 Beginners’ Ancient Greek Paper I: Translation and 562 Beginners’ Ancient Greek Paper II: Commentary; both papers must be taken; not available to candidates who offered Ancient Greek in Honour Moderations in Classics.
- 563 Beginners’ Latin Paper I: Translation and 564 Beginners’ Latin Paper II: Commentary; both papers must be taken; not available to candidates who offered Latin in Honour Moderations in Classics.
- 571: Further Ancient Greek Translation; only available to candidates who offered Ancient Greek at Intermediate Level in Honour Moderations in Classics.
- 572: Further Latin Translation; only available to candidates who offered Latin at Intermediate Level in Honour Moderations in Classics.
23. Beginners’ Ancient Greekand Beginners’ Latin each count as two subjects. Candidates may offer subjects 561 and 562 in Ancient Greek or subjects 563 and 564 in Latin but not both.
VII Optional Additional Thesis
24. Candidates may offer, but are not required to offer, an Optional Additional Thesis in addition to the eight subjects required above, in accordance with the Requirements for Theses below.
Requirements for Theses
1. These requirements apply to theses in Ancient History (subject 499), Literature (599), Archaeology (699), Philology and Linguistics (598), and Optional Additional Thesis (VII), with the exception of Optional Additional Theses on subjects relating to Philosophy. For theses in Philosophy (199) and Optional Additional Theses (VII) on Philosophy subjects, see Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy.
2. The subject of every thesis shall, to the satisfaction of the Standing Committee for Mods and Greats, fall within the scope of the Honour School of Literae Humaniores. The subject may but need not overlap any subject or period on which the candidate offers papers. Candidates should avoid repetition in examination essays of material used in their theses and may be penalised for substantial repetition. Candidates who offer an Optional Additional Thesis and another thesis must avoid all overlap between them.
3. No thesis shall exceed 10,000 words. The word limit excludes the bibliography and certain categories of material as specified in the course handbook.
4. Candidates must upload a copy of their thesis by noon onFriday of Week 0of the Trinity Term of the final year of the Honour School to the University approved online assessment platform.
