Bachelor of Arts [B.A] [Classics] From Grinnell College

Because of their continuity and comparability, the classical and modern worlds offer valuable perspectives on each other. Their continuity has long been recognized; many modern languages, institutions, values, and the forms and symbols in which we frame ideas are derived from the beginnings of Western civilization in Greece and Rome. But since our modern world differs in important ways from its origins, the study of classics also supplies a perspective for comparison that enforces rational, conscious examination of the unconscious assumptions by which we speak, think, and act. Grinnell courses in classics deliberately and explicitly invite students to apply their classical experience to the facts and modes of understanding they have learned in history, social sciences, philosophy, literature, and the arts as taught from more modern points of view in other departments of the College.