The Classics and Oriental studies course is a great opportunity to pursue the study of both a modern language and the ancient world. These two subjects work well together as many countries, such as Egypt and Iran, have experienced both classical and oriental cultures. There are a number of Oriental languages which students can study; Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic and Syriac, Armenian, Coptic, Egyptian, Hebrew, Early Iranian, Pali, Persian, Sanskrit and Turkish.
Students are taught through a mixture of lectures, tutorials, and language classes. Learning an Oriental or Ancient language from scratch can be quite daunting, but students are given plenty of classes to quickly improve their level or language. Oxford has some great resources available for studying Classics and Oriental Languages, including the Sackler Library, the China Centre and Oxford’s impressive Ashmolean Museum. The Classics Faculty is also the largest of its kind in the world.
If possible, it is recommended that students take an A Level (or equivalent) in Latin or Greek.
Oxford offers two different courses: Classics with Oriental Studies (Q8T9) and Oriental Studies with Classics (T9Q8). This allows students to give slightly more weight to whichever subject they prefer. If a student opts for the second course, Oriental Studies with Classics, and chooses either Arabic, Persian, or Turkish as their main language, they will go on a year abroad in their second year. The course is four years long, with or without a year abroad.
Oriental Studies with Classics is only offered by certain colleges, including; Christ Church, Harris Manchester, the Queen’s College, St Anne’s College, St John’s College. University College, and Wadham College.