New MA programme on Ancient History

Thanks to funding from the IDUB programme, in October 2023, the Faculty of History opened, after almost two years of preparation, a new English-language MA programme “History of Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations”. The project is being developed in cooperation with the Faculty of Archeology and the Institute of Classical Philology.

The interest in the new MA programme turned out to be very high. The number of candidates exceeded the limit required to open the programme three times. The new programme has been well received both in Poland and internationally. Our students come from different European and Asian countries and the US. Most of them are interested in the Bronze Age period in Mesopotamia and the Greco-Roman world. Some candidates enrolled with very specific expectations, choosing Warsaw e.g. because of the international reputation of UW papyrology.

Auxiliary disciplines (papyrology, epigraphy, numismatics) are not everything. As part of the programme, students will receive an in-depth course in ancient history, the basic knowledge of archaeology to the extent needed by historians for a reliable analysis of material evidence, and an intensive course in an ancient language (Latin, Greek, Hebrew, in the following years: Syriac, Akkadian, and Coptic are planned). The students will also have a study trip to one of the Mediterranean countries. The programme has a research profile and the students are encouraged to conduct their own, publishable research. They will also have the opportunity to participate in meetings of research projects carried out at the Faculty of History, funded by ERC and NCN grants.

As part of the project, a modern digital humanities lab is also being created. The purchased equipment will allow for conducting classes in epigraphic photogrammetry, basics of 3D modelling, GIS data processing, computer graphics and text editing in the TEI XML standard (skills also useful outside of research jobs).