Classics with Oriental Studies at Balliol College
One of the biggest Classics colleges in Oxford, Balliol is unusual in having tutors in all four of the main areas of the subject, a large, vibrant and cohesive community of undergraduates and postgraduates, a college library with one of the best Classics collections in Oxford, and plenty of opportunities to participate in the wider life of the subject, including Classics societies and travel grants.
For Oriental Studies, both Professor Thomas and Dr Kelly (see below) have strong research interests in the relationship between Near Eastern and Ancient Greek culture and literature. Furthermore, both the Boden Professor of Sanskrit and the Numata Professor of Buddhist Studies are located at Balliol. Both offer teaching to undergraduates, sometimes in the College, alongside the instruction they receive at the Oriental Institute and, for some subjects, in other centres.
Balliol is close to the Oriental Institute just a few minutes’ walk away in Pusey Street. The superb collections of the Ashmolean Museum and the Sackler Library, as well as the Griffith Institute for Egyptology, are round the corner in George Street. The Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies is not much farther away in Walton Street, as is the China Centre, in Canterbury Road.
Number of places at Balliol: 7–8 for Classics (and Joint Schools).
Tutors
Dr Alexander Bown
Associate Professor, Fellow and Tutor in Ancient Philosophy
Dr Adrian Kelly
Associate Professor, Clarendon University Lecturer, Fellow and Tutor in Ancient Greek Language and Literature
Dr Matthew Robinson
Associate Professor, Fairfax Fellow and Tutor in Latin Literature
Professor Rosalind Thomas
Professor of Greek History, Dyson-Macgregor Fellow, Jowett Lecturer and Tutor in Ancient History
Dr Alex Hardwick
Lecturer in Greek and Latin Language and Literature
Thomas McConnell
Lecturer in Classics
About the course
Please see the Faculty of Classics website and the University’s course pages.
This degree is particularly suited to highly motivated students with serious intellectual interests in Classical and Oriental cultures, and an excellent aptitude for languages.
Course requirements and selection criteria
We only take students in Classics with Oriental Studies (i.e. focusing on the Classics side of the degree), rather than Oriental Studies with Classics. See also the University’s entrance requirements.
For selection criteria, please see the Faculty of Classics website.