Professional development
Dalhousie’s Department of Classics works hard to encourage the professional development of our graduate students. Among other activities, the graduate co-ordinator runs occasional workshops on topics including the following:
- How to apply for funding
- Publications and conference presentations
- Developing an academic CV
- Applying for further graduate study
The department, along with the Faculty of Graduate Studies, is able to offer financial support for conference travel to help students present their work at scholarly conferences. Most importantly, the Department of Classics offers a collegial and vibrant intellectual atmosphere for graduate students and faculty to discuss their ideas and projects with one another.
Teaching assistantships
Graduate students are assigned teaching assistant (TA) duties at Dalhousie University during their program. Teaching assignments depend on undergraduate enrolments and the experience of the graduate students. Normal TA assignments include the following:
- Leading tutorial discussions
- Marking quizzes, tests and writing assignments
- Invigilating tests and final examinations
- One-on-one tutoring during office hours
If graduate students are interested in developing their teaching skills, there are often opportunities for giving occasional lectures in the class.
The academic program includes a teaching assistant position in an undergraduate class for 260 hours in the first year.
Departmental seminars
Visiting scholars
At least four times per term, the Dalhousie Department of Classics invites top scholars from around the world to present a paper. At least a week in advance of the seminar, the paper is distributed to students and faculty so they can read it beforehand. Rather than simply reading the whole paper, the speaker briefly articulates the most important points in the paper, and then the floor is opened for discussion.
Recent speakers at the seminar include John Dillon, Christian Wildberg, Jeffrey Henderson, Patricia Johnson, Aryeh Kosman, Francisco Gonzalez, Dimitri Gutas, Stephen Gersh, Robert Wisnovsky, Carlos Fraenkel, Jeremy McInerney, Michael Harrington, David Bronstein, and Edward Butler.
Graduate student seminars
The graduate student society meets a few times each term to present works in progress to one another. This serves to keep graduate colleagues informed about one another’s research, and also to provide a forum for constructive critical feedback on work prior to its submission.