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Resources

The University of Pennsylvania has a superb array of resources for the student of ancient history. The University Libraries include Van Pelt Library which houses seminar collections in Classical Studies, Philosophy, and Asian Studies and the Henry C. Lea Library of Byzantine and Medieval History. Students may also use the Rare Book Collection, the Furness Fine Arts Library and the University Museum Library, which has extensive holdings in Mediterranean and Near Eastern archaeology. The University Museum also has an outstanding collection of artifacts from each of the major civilizations of the ancient world.

Students at Penn can participate in excavations and research projects in Italy, Greece and the Near East, as a result of the University's affiliation with research institutions in these areas including the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and the American Academy in Rome.

Penn enjoys close relations with other distinguished educational institutions including Princeton and Bryn Mawr. Faculty at neighboring institutions are sometimes invited to teach at Penn, and are often available for informal consultation with Penn students. By means of reciprocal agreement, graduate courses at these institutions are available to students in the Ancient History Graduate Group at Penn.

Financial Support

Students in the Graduate Group in Ancient History are eligible for five-year William Penn Fellowships. This award covers full tuition and pays a generous stipend. Additional Teaching Assistantships and Teaching assignments in the College of General Studies are also available. Students in the Group are regularly successful in the competition for Dissertation Fellowships.

Admission

Students entering the program are expected to have completed at least one year of undergraduate work in ancient history and to have sufficient language preparation to begin graduate work in at least one ancient language. It is also desirable for applicants to have knowledge of one or more modern languages, especially French and German. A GRE General Test is required. Applicants are also required to submit an example of their academic writing with their applications. A research paper of about 15 pages in length (but of no more than 20) is sufficient to meet this requirement.

You can apply on-line through Penn's on-line application. (IE 5 and above, Netscape 6 and above, Safari, and Firefox are all supported.)

All applications to the Department of ANCH must be submitted online between October 1 and no later than midnight of December 15th. Application fee is $70.00. We no longer accept hard copy application forms.

All writing samples should be mailed to:

Ernestine Williams
University of Pennsylvania
Graduate Admissions
Dept. ANCH (CLST)
249 South 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304

Related Programs at Penn

The Graduate Group in Ancient History is one of a number of programs offering advanced training in aspects of the classical world at Penn.


Students interested in classical languages, literature and culture should contact:
Professor Joseph Farrell
Chair, Department of Classical Studies
201 Cohen Hall
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304
Telephone: (215) 898-7425
E-mail: jfarrell@sas.upenn.edu


Students interested in the material culture of the ancient world should contact:
Professor Robert Ousterhout
Chair, Graduate Group in the Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World
Department of the History of Art
Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe History of Art Building
3405 Woodland Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6208
Tel.: (215) 898-3249
E-mail: ousterob@sas.upenn.edu

Applying for Entry to Graduate School at Penn

If you have decided that you would like to apply to one of our programs, you may obtain all the necessary application materials by contacting the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.