Bachelor [Classical Studies] From Pacific Lutheran University

Why Study at PLU?

• English will continue to grow as a global language, but the disadvantage of being an English-only speaker will grow as well: the world is becoming increasingly multi-lingual. Studying a foreign language may be a strategic – or even necessary – choice in bringing your “wild hopes and big dreams” onto the world stage.
• Learning to navigate a complex and global world requires a complex and global set of skills. Our programs aim to do more than enable you to speak in another language, read literature in isolation, or travel more easily to a particular part of the world.  They teach you to hear and to understand the unique voices of cultures, including your own, and develop the trans-cultural skills necessary for a life of “thoughtful inquiry, leadership, service, and care” in an increasingly connected world.

Students will:

• master the elements of Greek and Latin grammar;
• read and comprehend Greek and Latin texts in their original languages;
• use their knowledge of Greek and Latin to aid their study in other programs in the liberal arts, understand the historical foundations and interrelations of those studies, and bring them together into shared projects;.
• discern a diverse range of value systems and complex points of view by familiarizing themselves with the idiosyncratic and seminal institutions of the Greeks and the syncretic culture of the Romans;
• examine more closely Greek, Roman, and Early Christian traditions and understand how each tradition shaped the views and actions of the major figures in them; and
• construct a critical and charitable approach to each of those traditions and gain a far-reaching perspective on the ways those cultures developed over time, grew, declined, clashed with each other, and adapted to the world around them.