Careers

Why Classics?

Classics at the College of Charleston integrates study of language, literature, art, archaeology, philosophy, history, the environment, geospatial science, and political theory to study the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean Basin. Students are challenged to explore the complex world of classical antiquity on its own terms while they acquire the skills to think more critically about the world today and their own place within it.

For some, a major should hearken to the type of job or career one would expect upon graduation. This is a form of linear thinking, where a specific type education leads to a specific career (or career sector).

Classics doesn’t do that. Classics majors cultivate a range of analytical approaches to study the past, using a variety of evidence. The information is incomplete, requiring the application of proxy data, analogy, inductive and deductive thinking to argue for the ‘best case’ understanding of a given issue. Classics majors can critically examine the minute details, contextualize within the greater whole, and communicate those analyses effectively. These approaches are highly desired by a wide array of professional programs and employers. Our alumni demonstrate this.

Common Career Paths
 Any College of Charleston degree will provide you with an array of options, but here are some of the industry sectors and positions where our Classics graduates are found:

Industry Sectors
            Positions
Public Relations Physician
Information Lawyer
Law Writer and Author
National Security and Foreign Affairs Public Relations Specialist
Health Care and Social Assistance Advertising and Promotions Manager
K-12 Education Manager: General, Marketing, Financial, or Executive
Higher Education Officer: Military, Intelligence, Foreign Service
Professional Services Historian
Federal, State, and Local Government Librarian
Curator or Archivist
Archaeologist
College Professor
K-12 Instructor


A Call for Classics Majors
The need for people deeply trained in classics and the liberal arts is a well-trodden subject, and the literature ranges from opinion pieces in places such as Forbes to scholarly treatises and analyses produced by academic journals and think-tanks. Some examples:

Classics Majors Find Their Future in the Past, Psychology Today
How the Past Can Guide Your Future, Forbes
Science and the Humaniteis Work Together, Washington Post
Interviews in Forbes in response to Power, Ambition, Glory: the stunning parallels between great leaders of the ancient world and today by Steven Forbes and John Prevas:

Famous Classicists
 The list can be a long one – up until the late 19th century, nearly every educated European or North American was steeped in the study of ancient Greece and Rome to some extent. A partial list, therefore:

Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and infectious Diseases
W.E.B.Du Bois. Principal theorist of sociologogy; civil rights activist
Émile Durkheim. Principal theorist of sociology
Max Weber. Principal theorist of sociology
Karl Marx. Principal theorist of sociology
Friedrich Nietzsche. Philosopher
C.S.Lewis. Author
Charlest Geschke, co-found of Adobe Systems
James Baker. Former Secretary of State
William Cohen. Former Secretary of Defense
Porter Goss. Former Head, CIA
William Weld. Former Governor of Massachusetts
Anthony James Leggettt. Nobel Prize Recipient, Physics
J.K. Rowling. Author
Chris Martin. Lead singer, Coldplay
Tom Hiddleston. Actor

Additional folks can be found at:
Folks you didn’t know (maybe) had Classics degrees