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University of Oxford: Late Antique and Byzantine Studies
| Institution | University of Oxford |
|---|---|
| Department | History |
| Web | https://www.ox.ac.uk |
| graduate.admissions@admin.ox.ac.uk | |
| Telephone | +44 (0)1865 270059 |
| Study type | Taught |
MSt
Summary
**The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2023). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.**
**MSt**
This is a nine-month taught course that can be taken as a free-standing degree, or as the first step towards doctoral research.
Late Antiquity (c.250-c.750) was a period of remarkable political change and cultural efflorescence. It witnessed the transformation of the ancient Roman and Iranian empires into their more centralised, more bureaucratic late Roman and Sassanian successors. This was a time of the consolidation of ancient philosophy, Judaism, and Christianity, as well as the emergence of Islam. By the end of the period, the ancient world order had dissolved into a series of Western kingdoms, the Islamic caliphate, and the Byzantine state focused on Constantinople. Over more than a millennium of history, Byzantium (c.330-c.1453) was central to political, economic, and cultural networks across the Eurasian continent, and played a crucial part in the formation of Eastern Christendom, the Crusades, and the Renaissance.
This course introduces you to this rich heritage, while also allowing for a high level of specialisation in various periods, regions, and source types; as well as languages (incl. Greek, Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, and Persian) and approaches (incl. History, Archaeology, Visual Culture, Literature, and Religion). Uniquely, the course is taught through a team of scholars based in several different Oxford faculties: History, Classics, Archaeology, Theology and Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and Modern and Medieval Languages.
Oxford scholars have been vital to the formation of Late Antiquity and Byzantium as modern academic disciplines. As a postgraduate in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies you will join a thriving and active community of over one hundred scholars and students, represented in the Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity and the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research. These centres help to organise a regular programme of seminars and conferences, while the Oxford University Byzantine Society runs an annual postgraduate research trip to different parts of the former late antique and Byzantine worlds, and a conference which gathers postgraduates from across the globe.
**MPhil**
This two-year course can be taken as a free-standing degree, or as the first step towards doctoral research.
Oxford scholars have been vital to the formation of Late Antiquity and Byzantium as modern academic disciplines. As a postgraduate in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies you will join a thriving and active community of over one hundred scholars and students, represented in the Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity and the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research. These centres help to organise a regular programme of seminars and conferences, while the Oxford University Byzantine Society runs an annual postgraduate research trip to different parts of the former late antique and Byzantine worlds, and a conference which gathers postgraduates from across the globe.
If you wish to apply for the DPhil you will be encouraged to develop your doctoral proposal in consultation with your supervisor during the first few months of your second year, so that you will be well placed to make a doctoral application.
**For the full descriptions, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas**
| Level | RQF Level 7 |
|---|---|
| Entry requirements | For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas |
| Location | University of Oxford University Offices Wellington Square Oxford OX1 2JD |
Summary
**The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (October/November 2022). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas**
**MSt**
The MSt in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies has been devised as a multi-purpose introduction to the Roman world in Late Antiquity, to Byzantium, the medieval successor of the East Roman Empire, and to neighbouring peoples and their cultures.
This is a nine-month taught course that can be taken as a free-standing degree, or as the first step towards doctoral research.
Course structure
You have the option of selecting a focus of study dependent on your knowledge of languages or on your primary interests in the field. Two basic pathways lead into each field of study, and you are expected to choose between them at the beginning of the course.
Pathway one
The first is the language training pathway, which offers intensive training in any one of the following ancient and medieval languages:
- Greek
- Latin
- Slavonic
- Armenian
- Syriac
- Coptic
- Arabic.
In the first two academic terms you will take a core paper on history, art and archaeology or history and Byzantine literature comprising two sets of weekly classes. You will also take intensive courses in both language and literature.
Pathway two
The second pathway, is designed for those who already have considerable competence in their chosen language and are able to read primary sources. You will receive instruction in one or two of a range of specialist auxiliary disciplines of papyrology, epigraphy, palaeography, numismatics, sigillography or artefact studies and you will choose a special subject from a list in your preferred subject area, ie in either history, art and archaeology, literature or religion.
**MPhil**
This two-year course has been devised as a multi-purpose introduction to the Roman world in Late Antiquity, to Byzantium, the medieval successor of the East Roman Empire, and to neighbouring peoples and their cultures.
This course can be taken as a free-standing degree, or as the first step towards doctoral research. The course includes the completion of a 30,000-word dissertation.
**Course structure**
You have the option of selecting a focus of study dependent on your knowledge of languages or on your primary interests in the field. Two basic pathways lead into each field of study, one in language training and one in auxiliary disciplines, and you are expected to choose between them at the beginning of the course.
Pathway one
The first is the language training pathway which offers intensive training in any one of the following ancient and medieval languages:
- Greek
- Latin
- Slavonic
- Armenian
- Syriac
- Coptic
- Arabic.
In year one, you will take a core paper on history, art and archaeology or history and Byzantine literature comprising two sets of weekly classes taken in the first two academic terms. You will also take intensive courses in both language and literature.
In the second year, you will write a thesis of not more than 30,000 words, on a subject approved by your supervisor.
You will then choose either:
- a special subject 10,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choosing, subject to the approval of your supervisor; or
- one of the language papers on offer (Greek, Latin, Slavonic, Armenian, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic).
Pathway two
The second pathway is designed for those who already have considerable competence in their chosen language and are able to read the primary sources. You will receive instruction in one or two of a range of specialist auxiliary disciplines of papyrology, epigraphy, palaeography, numismatics, sigillography or artefact studies and you will choose a special subject from a list in your preferred subject area, ie in either history, art and archaeology, literature or religion.
| Level | RQF Level 7 |
|---|---|
| Entry requirements | For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas |
| Location | University of Oxford University Offices Wellington Square Oxford OX1 2JD |
Master of Philosophy - MPhil
Summary
**The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2023). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.**
**MSt**
This is a nine-month taught course that can be taken as a free-standing degree, or as the first step towards doctoral research.
Late Antiquity (c.250-c.750) was a period of remarkable political change and cultural efflorescence. It witnessed the transformation of the ancient Roman and Iranian empires into their more centralised, more bureaucratic late Roman and Sassanian successors. This was a time of the consolidation of ancient philosophy, Judaism, and Christianity, as well as the emergence of Islam. By the end of the period, the ancient world order had dissolved into a series of Western kingdoms, the Islamic caliphate, and the Byzantine state focused on Constantinople. Over more than a millennium of history, Byzantium (c.330-c.1453) was central to political, economic, and cultural networks across the Eurasian continent, and played a crucial part in the formation of Eastern Christendom, the Crusades, and the Renaissance.
This course introduces you to this rich heritage, while also allowing for a high level of specialisation in various periods, regions, and source types; as well as languages (incl. Greek, Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, and Persian) and approaches (incl. History, Archaeology, Visual Culture, Literature, and Religion). Uniquely, the course is taught through a team of scholars based in several different Oxford faculties: History, Classics, Archaeology, Theology and Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and Modern and Medieval Languages.
Oxford scholars have been vital to the formation of Late Antiquity and Byzantium as modern academic disciplines. As a postgraduate in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies you will join a thriving and active community of over one hundred scholars and students, represented in the Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity and the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research. These centres help to organise a regular programme of seminars and conferences, while the Oxford University Byzantine Society runs an annual postgraduate research trip to different parts of the former late antique and Byzantine worlds, and a conference which gathers postgraduates from across the globe.
**MPhil**
This two-year course can be taken as a free-standing degree, or as the first step towards doctoral research.
Oxford scholars have been vital to the formation of Late Antiquity and Byzantium as modern academic disciplines. As a postgraduate in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies you will join a thriving and active community of over one hundred scholars and students, represented in the Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity and the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research. These centres help to organise a regular programme of seminars and conferences, while the Oxford University Byzantine Society runs an annual postgraduate research trip to different parts of the former late antique and Byzantine worlds, and a conference which gathers postgraduates from across the globe.
If you wish to apply for the DPhil you will be encouraged to develop your doctoral proposal in consultation with your supervisor during the first few months of your second year, so that you will be well placed to make a doctoral application.
**For the full descriptions, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas**
| Level | RQF Level 7 |
|---|---|
| Entry requirements | For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas |
| Location | University of Oxford University Offices Wellington Square Oxford OX1 2JD |
Summary
**The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (October/November 2022). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas**
**MSt**
The MSt in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies has been devised as a multi-purpose introduction to the Roman world in Late Antiquity, to Byzantium, the medieval successor of the East Roman Empire, and to neighbouring peoples and their cultures.
This is a nine-month taught course that can be taken as a free-standing degree, or as the first step towards doctoral research.
Course structure
You have the option of selecting a focus of study dependent on your knowledge of languages or on your primary interests in the field. Two basic pathways lead into each field of study, and you are expected to choose between them at the beginning of the course.
Pathway one
The first is the language training pathway, which offers intensive training in any one of the following ancient and medieval languages:
- Greek
- Latin
- Slavonic
- Armenian
- Syriac
- Coptic
- Arabic.
In the first two academic terms you will take a core paper on history, art and archaeology or history and Byzantine literature comprising two sets of weekly classes. You will also take intensive courses in both language and literature.
Pathway two
The second pathway, is designed for those who already have considerable competence in their chosen language and are able to read primary sources. You will receive instruction in one or two of a range of specialist auxiliary disciplines of papyrology, epigraphy, palaeography, numismatics, sigillography or artefact studies and you will choose a special subject from a list in your preferred subject area, ie in either history, art and archaeology, literature or religion.
**MPhil**
This two-year course has been devised as a multi-purpose introduction to the Roman world in Late Antiquity, to Byzantium, the medieval successor of the East Roman Empire, and to neighbouring peoples and their cultures.
This course can be taken as a free-standing degree, or as the first step towards doctoral research. The course includes the completion of a 30,000-word dissertation.
**Course structure**
You have the option of selecting a focus of study dependent on your knowledge of languages or on your primary interests in the field. Two basic pathways lead into each field of study, one in language training and one in auxiliary disciplines, and you are expected to choose between them at the beginning of the course.
Pathway one
The first is the language training pathway which offers intensive training in any one of the following ancient and medieval languages:
- Greek
- Latin
- Slavonic
- Armenian
- Syriac
- Coptic
- Arabic.
In year one, you will take a core paper on history, art and archaeology or history and Byzantine literature comprising two sets of weekly classes taken in the first two academic terms. You will also take intensive courses in both language and literature.
In the second year, you will write a thesis of not more than 30,000 words, on a subject approved by your supervisor.
You will then choose either:
- a special subject 10,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choosing, subject to the approval of your supervisor; or
- one of the language papers on offer (Greek, Latin, Slavonic, Armenian, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic).
Pathway two
The second pathway is designed for those who already have considerable competence in their chosen language and are able to read the primary sources. You will receive instruction in one or two of a range of specialist auxiliary disciplines of papyrology, epigraphy, palaeography, numismatics, sigillography or artefact studies and you will choose a special subject from a list in your preferred subject area, ie in either history, art and archaeology, literature or religion.
| Level | RQF Level 7 |
|---|---|
| Entry requirements | For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas |
| Location | University of Oxford University Offices Wellington Square Oxford OX1 2JD |
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