Greek/Social & Public Policy

Ancient Greek opens a window onto one of the most formative civilisations in human history. The language itself, with its precision, its range of mood and aspect, and its capacity for philosophical argument, is a remarkable intellectual tool, and learning it gives you direct access to some of the most important texts in the Western tradition. Homer's epics, the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides, the comedies of Aristophanes, the histories of Thucydides, and the philosophical dialogues of Plato are all available to you in their original form once you have the language.

Social and Public Policy, meanwhile, addresses the structures and decisions through which contemporary governments respond to social need, manage inequality, and shape the lives of citizens.

At the University of Glasgow, this four-year full-time programme brings these two disciplines together in a combination that is intellectually unusual and genuinely enriching. You will read Greek literature across genres, learning about Greek political and social history, philosophy, religion, and art alongside the grammatical and syntactic demands of the language. In Social and Public Policy you will examine welfare systems, public services, and the theory and practice of policy-making, developing quantitative and qualitative research skills.

The programme includes a year abroad, which broadens your perspective through study at a partner institution overseas.

The discipline of learning an ancient language and the breadth of the policy curriculum together develop a distinctive combination of rigour, historical depth, and practical analytical skill. Graduates are well placed for careers in the civil service, public administration, policy analysis, law, education, journalism, heritage, and the third sector, as well as for postgraduate study in classical studies, ancient history, social policy, or related fields.