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Taught M.Phil in Classics

DPTHH-CLAS-1F09 (full-time)
DPTHH-CLAS-1P09 (part-time)

Coordinator: Dr Shane Wallace

Aimed both at students who intend to proceed to doctoral research and those who wish to round off their undergraduate studies by taking their encounter with the Classical world to the next level or to explore a nascent interest in ancient Greece and Rome, the MPhil in Classics offers a range of taught modules at high level and the opportunity to write a dissertation on a subject of your choice.

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Is this course for me?

The Taught Masters in Classics at Trinity College is designed both for those who are already fully trained in the Classical languages, and for those who have completed non-language based degrees. The course aims to provide students with a grounding in postgraduate research skills in Classics and to hone the analytical, written, and verbal communication skills that are highly valued and effective in careers outside the university and education sectors. While the Research Skills modules offers instruction in the methodologies and approaches to the study of the ancient world, the Taught modules and the Dissertation offer students the opportunity to begin to specialise in a particular strand of Classical scholarship, literary, philosophical, historical or archaeological. The Taught Masters thereby provides an essential basis for further research in the discipline.

See more details on the main courses website

Course Structure

Full-time option
Taken as a full-time course, the M.Phil. lasts for 12 months, starting in September. Teaching is spread over 24 weeks from September to the following April. Students are expected to be resident in Dublin working on their M.Phil. dissertation until the end of June (Statutory Term). The course consists of a combination of compulsory and optional components that together make up the 90 ECTS expected for full-time study over one academic year at Masters Level.

Part-time option
Students taking the course on a part-time basis do so over two years. Part-time students must pass taught modules carrying 40 credits, including the compulsory module CL7004 Classics Research Skills (20 credits), in their first year in order to progress to the second year. In their second year they must pass taught modules carrying 20 credits and submit the dissertation by 31st August.

Compulsory Components (50 ECTS)

Taught Module Options (40 ECTS)

Students take 40 credits comprised of EITHER
one elementary ancient language (20 ECTS over 2 semesters) plus one taught module (10 ECTS) per semester
OR
Two taught modules (2 x 10 ECTS) per semester
OR
Three taught modules (3 x 10 ECTS, two in one semester, one in the other semester), plus Modern Greek for beginners (10 ECTS over 2 semesters)

a) Language Courses (20 ECTS) – all year

For students who have previously studied Greek and/or Latin, a range of author- and topic-based 10 ECTS modules will also be available. In 2023/24 such modules will (subject to final confirmation) include: Greek Drama; Latin Comedy; Herodotus; Greek Philosophy; Latin Epic; Greek Epic; How to be Happy; Catullus and Cicero; Latin Historians; Senecan Tragedy; Informal Latin; Hellenistic Poetry. Students are permitted to choose a maximum of three such language modules, or one language module (10 ECTS) and one year-long Beginner’s language module (20 ECTS), but they must choose at least one taught Seminar topic (10 ECTS) from the list below.

b) Seminar Topics (10 ECTS) – one term

Michaelmas Term 2024/25: Hilary Term 2024-25: Not Available In 2024-25: Please Note: taught MPhil options for 2024/25 are subject to confirmation.

Awards and Scholarships

Government of Ireland International Education Scholarships are awarded to high calibre students from non-EEA countries to study in Ireland for a period of one year. They provide a €10,000 stipend towards living costs and Trinity provides a full fee-waiver to recipients for one year. Further information is available here https://www.tcd.ie/study/international/scholarships/postgraduate/goi/

All applicants will automatically be considered for the following internal awards:

  1. The Constantia Maxwell Faculty Studentship, with a value of 3000 euro, is usually offered to a student in any of the School's MPhil programmes.
  2. The School of Histories and Humanities also offers one bursary of 1000 euro, to be deducted from the course fees, for each of its MPhil programmes.

Awards will be made on academic merit. All completed applications with an unconditional offer by the deadline of June 30th will be considered for the internal awards.

Bursary in Cypriot and Greek Archaeology: Following an Award by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports of the Republic of Cyprus for the project ‘Fostering Cypriot and Greek Studies in Ireland’ we are delighted to offer a bursary of €1000 (towards the cost of tuition fees) for a student registered on the M.Phil. in Classics. Priority will be given to candidates with a background in Cypriot and/or Greek Archaeology and planning to pursue their interests in any of these areas.

All applicants will automatically be considered for the following internal awards:

  1. The Constantia Maxwell Faculty Studentship, with a value of 3000 euro, is usually offered to a student in any of the School's MPhil programmes.
  2. The School of Histories and Humanities also offers one bursary of 1000 euro, to be deducted from the course fees, for each of its MPhil programmes.

Awards will be made on academic merit. All completed applications with an unconditional offer by the deadline of May 31st will be considered for the internal awards.