Career opportunities

In Dalhousie's Department of Classics, we teach critical thinking and train great communicators. From judges to journalists, our graduates are adaptable and have moved into many professions, proving that Classics is not only a great foundation for future academics, it is a preparation for life.

“That skill of engaging with a language in detail is something that you do carry with you in whatever career you take,” says Dr. Jack Mitchell, who teaches Latin and ancient Greek, of the training that studies in Classics provides to students. “You don’t have to be a Classics scholar to appreciate it."

Many of our graduates have found academic positions at top universities in Canada, the U.S., and abroad. See a list of recent graduates and the careers paths they've started.

After studies in Classics at Dalhousie, our graduates have gone on to pursue careers in the following fields:

  • Classics
  • philosophy
  • history
  • religious studies
  • Jewish studies
  • medieval studies
  • English
  • law
  • archaeology
  • film
  • education (secondary and post-secondary)
  • management
  • medicine
  • library and information studies

 

An alumnus' career story

Why you should love what you do
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Honourable Justice Peter Bryson, Q.C., believes that doing what you love is a practical career choice: You enjoy the work more - and you always perform better doing something you love.

Justice Bryson completed his BA (1976) and MA (1978) in Classics at Dalhousie then went on to receive his BA (1980) in Jurisprudence at Oxford University. He returned to Dal, obtaining his LLB in 1981. As a practising lawyer, he worked with many business leaders in Nova Scotia. He says businesses always need good communicators and self-starters with a capacity to learn new skills sets – something at which Classics graduates excel.

Read more about Justice Bryson's career path.