Students Studying Ancient History at Stanford
Ancient history is changing faster than at any time since the late nineteenth century, when modern research universities took shape. We have found that asking new questions, using new methods, and proposing new answers energize the field. At Stanford the numbers of undergraduates taking ancient history classes and of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty focusing on this field have grown rapidly since the mid-90s. Only US history survey courses draw more students than the ancient history surveys.
Our primary goals are to help students learn how to ask good new questions, and to teach them the skills they will need to answer them. As the types of questions ancient historians ask multiply, so too do the methods they might use. Graduate programs therefore walk a fine line between leaving students without the skills they need to do serious work and burdening them with so many requirements that they take many years to finish their coursework.
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