Waikato has some great courses available under the Bachelor of Arts… but I’m thinking it could be even better. When looking at paper and subject options when I was enrolling for my degree, there was one particular subject that appeared to be missing, Classics. I never studied it at high school, but as someone who read Percy Jackson and the Olympians religiously in years 8 and 9, I have most definitely delved into aspects.
Realistically of course, there is a lot of consideration that goes into introducing a university subject. This includes having adequate resources and staff. For the sake of this argument, please assume that it is on the basis of Waikato having the adequate resources(which I have no knowledge on in order to confirm or deny).
A classics program at the University of Waikato would in my opinion compliment many Bachelor of Arts subjects perfectly. Subjects such as Anthropology and History cover similar areas, but as of me looking at papers while writing this they don’t focus on many ancient civilizations. The bonus of adding in Classics means these histories can be taught without taking away from present subjects, particularly Māori and Pacific histories. Additional papers such as ENGLI202 cover aspects of Classics, in this case Shakespeare’s play about the assassination of Julius Caesar, which in my opinion has generated interest for me in ancient Roman history.
Currently Waikato is one of the only major universities in New Zealand to not offer Classical studies. The universities that currently do include Auckland, Victoria, Otago, and even Massey. Introducing this subject would certainly help us to keep up with these universities and welcome more students into the Bachelor of Arts program. I remember in year 13 discussing with friends our options for Universityand while a couple of us liked what Waikato had on offer, we also wished it had Classics. Additionally, making certain choices when it comes to developing our specific program may even give us a competitive edge. The University of Auckland’s website specifies that their study currently revolves mainly around Ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt. However, there are so many more civilizations (staff permitted) that could be studied. This could include but is not limited to Maya, Babylonian, and even ancient India. As a university that aims to produce global thinkers, I believe it’s especially important to study a variety of ancient cultures and societies, not just those examined from a historically western lens.
An article from King’s College London sums up the importance of classical history quite well. The reality is classical history will forever play a part in our lives, making up the foundations of art, maths, history, philosophy, science, architecture and politics. Waikato can strengthen its current studies of various global cultures and societies if, given the resources, we introduced the subject in the Bachelor of Arts.
