Classics/Sociology

Classics and sociology is a combination that spans more than two millennia of human social organisation, bringing the study of ancient Greek and Roman civilisations into dialogue with the social-scientific analysis of modern societies. Classics engages with the languages, literatures, history, philosophy, and material culture of the ancient world, developing skills in linguistic analysis, historical interpretation, and close engagement with texts that have shaped Western thought. Sociology studies the ways people organise their lives together, the social structures and institutions that constrain and enable individual action, the patterns of social behaviour, and the causes and consequences of inequality.

At the University of Glasgow this four-year MA programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study in another country and to encounter different academic traditions in both classical studies and sociology. You will develop skills in primary source analysis and historical argument alongside the theoretical and empirical methods of sociology, learning to think across the ancient and modern divide in ways that are genuinely intellectually productive. The combination is particularly rich in areas where ancient social structures and modern sociological analysis speak to one another, including questions of class, gender, slavery, civic life, and political organisation.

Graduates from classics and sociology programmes work in a wide range of professional contexts where the combination of deep historical knowledge and social-scientific analytical skill is valued. Education, heritage, archiving, journalism, the civil service, policy research, and the charity sector are common destinations. The ancient languages developed in classics are also useful in law, theology, and academic careers in humanities disciplines.

Further study at postgraduate level in classical studies, sociology, ancient history, or social theory is a natural next step for those with an appetite for advanced research, and many graduates pursue doctoral work in areas that bridge the ancient and modern worlds.