Department of Philosophy and Classics

If you've ever wondered “how do I know what’s true,” “do we all live in a simulation,” or “what would make my choices and actions ethical or just,” then philosophy is the place to go. If you have ever wanted to learn ancient Greek or Latin or have wondered about the continued legacy of the stories, social practices, and ideas from the ancient Greeks and Romans, then classics is the place for you.

Philosophy

What you can expect in our courses

Philosophy tends to focus on how we think: what terms and concepts we use, how we use them, how we frame our position, and how we argue for it. All our courses involve learning techniques for evaluating ideas and arguments and using methods for resolving conflicts around principles, knowledge, and action. That is why you will spend time reading texts from the history of philosophy and from today’s philosophers, and writing essays to understand and evaluate their thought… and discover your own!

Since philosophy looks at issues related to every aspect of human life, we like to ensure that most of our courses are open to all students, with very few prerequisites. Students in the program take a mix of courses dealing with problems of philosophy (the nature of reality and of knowledge, its relation to science or to institutions, how language works); values and value theory (how to act ethically, how to organize a society, how to achieve liberation from oppression); and the history of philosophy (ranging from Ancient Greece to Modern Europe and to contemporary Canadian and Indigenous peoples).

Why study philosophy

Of course, studying philosophy brings its own rewards and can allow you to better understand yourself and find your place in your society and your world. You will also develop many skills that will be useful for the rest of your life. Recent studies indicate that employers want and reward many of the capacities which the study of philosophy develops: for instance, the ability to solve problems, to communicate, or organize ideas and issues, to assess pros and cons, and to boil down complex data. "Majors in liberal arts fields, in which philosophy is a central discipline, continue to make a strong showing in managerial skills and have experienced considerable business success" (Career Patterns, by Robert E. Beck). In addition, there are people trained in philosophy in just about every field. They have gone not only into such professions as law, medicine, and teaching, but into computer science, management, publishing, sales, criminal justice, public relations as well as legislative staffs.

The Philosophy, Politics and Economics program follows an internationally recognized model that combines three disciplines and ties the liberal arts together with pre-professional and professional learning.

Classical Studies

What you can expect in our courses

Classical Studies explores the whole of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, their languages and literature, history, works of art, and ideas. The peoples of the Classical Mediterranean flourished from the Bronze Age to the fourth century CE, and they have profoundly influenced the way we think about the world today, from our political systems to our language, literature, law, art, and architecture.

Classics courses will help you go to the sources of many contemporary cultures and societies and develop your understanding and appreciation of how their patterns are still present today. You can learn to read the Ancient Greek and Latin languages and study different genres of Greek and Latin literatures in translation. Other Classics courses examine specific topics of Classical culture, including political and social institutions and the material realities experienced by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and the reception of Classical arts and ideas by people living today.

Why study classics

You will gain an insight into our contemporary world by learning about the cultures that have influenced it. A degree in Classics prepares you for anything that requires disciplined, critical and creative thinking and a capacity to look at questions in new ways. Graduates find employment in organizations that look for well-educated people who think for themselves and write well, who value knowledge and creativity.

The Classical and Medieval Studies major enables students to focus their liberal arts undergraduate study on the languages, literatures, history and cultures of the Classical and Medieval periods.

About our Department

We are a generalist department, which means that we cover many areas at all levels: analytic as well as continental philosophy; Greek as well as Roman classical periods; broad topics as well as a few very specialized ones. Given the research and expertise of our department members, we do have a few areas of strength:

• Applied, practical, and professional ethics
• Philosophy of language, including political philosophy of language and ideology
• Phenomenology, existentialism, and hermeneutics (including Beauvoir and Merleau-Ponty)
• Latin and Greek languages and literatures
• Classical social and material histories
• Settler colonialism and comparative Indigenous / European philosophy
• Sustainability and technology