Sociology/Classics

Sociology and Classics is a pairing that might seem to span a vast historical distance, but it illuminates both disciplines in interesting ways. Classics investigates the literature, history, art and material culture of ancient Greece and Rome, the civilisations that in many ways defined the intellectual and political vocabulary of the Western tradition. Sociology investigates the patterns and processes of contemporary social life, asking how inequality is produced and reproduced, how institutions shape behaviour and how societies change.

Studying them together allows you to bring sociological analysis to bear on ancient societies and to understand contemporary social questions in their very long historical contexts.

At the University of Glasgow, the four-year full-time MA programme develops your engagement with both disciplines. The classics component may include the study of Latin and Greek at whatever level you begin from, alongside literary, historical and archaeological content. The sociology strand develops your understanding of social theory, research methods and substantive sociological topics including inequality, race, gender, deviance and social change.

The degree includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study in a different academic and cultural context.

The combination of ancient and modern perspectives on society is valuable in academic research, but also in careers that require historical depth and sociological awareness. Graduates work in education, research, the civil service, journalism, the heritage sector, social research, policy and the arts. Postgraduate study in sociology, classics, ancient history, social policy or a related field is a natural continuation for those who want to develop specialist expertise.