An intensive dedication to the study of the ancient Mediterranean world — its languages, history, and cultures — defines Stanford Classics. One of the largest and most diverse programs in the US, the Department comprises 16 full-time faculty members, 8 part-time lecturers, 3 administrative staff persons, 27 graduate students, and nearly 50 undergraduate majors and minors.

How can you attend this great university and not at some point study the ancient world? Disciplines from philosophy and literary criticism to art and architecture, music and history, linguistics, politics, and rhetoric arose in ancient Greece and were developed at Rome. The sciences trace their origins largely to Greek precedents in physics, mechanics, mathematics and biology. The very idea of a university and organized research into the human condition are rooted in Greco-Roman culture. Every student who enters Stanford deserves — and needs — to have a grounding in Classics. You don't need any previous experience and need not learn the ancient languages (although that is what the truly elite of every era have always done).