Overview
The Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies offers a unique interdisciplinary Master's program that allows students to develop a customized program specializing in any topic within the scope of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity through the completion of coursework and a thesis. Students choose from a broad range of coursework in the archaeology and material culture, religion and mythology, literature and ancient languages, and history and cultures of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. In the second year of the program, students write a thesis under the supervision of a faculty member. The degree balances research with fieldwork to best prepare students for a career in archaeology.
The program is suitable students with a broad background in the humanities, with an undergraduate degree that included significant coursework in our areas of specialization. It is also suitable for those who wish to undertake more advanced coursework, including ancient language training, in preparation for a doctoral program in Classics, Classical or Near Eastern Archaeology, or Religious Studies.
What makes the program unique?
The MA in Ancient Culture, Religion and Ethnicity takes full advantage of the unique blend of disciplines in our Department and offers students the opportunity to engage in a broad range of coursework and to pursue interdisciplinary research on the material culture, religious beliefs, languages and histories of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. We have sixteen full-time faculty specializing in the archaeology of the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Greek material culture, and the Roman provinces; in Hebrew Bible Studies, Jewish Studies, Christian origins, and New Testament Studies; in Greek literature and philosophy, Latin literature and translation, Greek and Roman history, Roman law, Greek and Roman theatre, and Greek mythology. Our faculty are all interdisciplinary researchers whose work regularly engages with other disciplines. There are also archaeological fieldwork opportunities for graduate students across Europe and the Mediterranean, including in Romania, Cyprus, and Israel.
Program Structure
The M.A. program requires 24 credits of coursework and the writing of an MA thesis worth 6 credits (AMNE 599). The 24 credits of coursework must include AMNE 500, and 18 must be numbered 500 or higher. The remaining 6 credits may, at the discretion of the program, be at the 300- or 400-level.
Quick Facts
Research Supervisors
Supervision
Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor. Please follow the instructions provided by each program whether applicants should contact faculty members.
Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for this program
Advice and insights from UBC Faculty on reaching out to supervisors
These videos contain some general advice from faculty across UBC on finding and reaching out to a supervisor. They are not program specific.
This list shows faculty members with full supervisory privileges who are affiliated with this program. It is not a comprehensive list of all potential supervisors as faculty from other programs or faculty members without full supervisory privileges can request approvals to supervise graduate students in this program.
- Bablitz, Leanne (Roman history, Roman law, Roman courtrooms, , Roman social history and law, Roman topography, Roman legal procedure)
- Cooper, Elisabeth (Archaeology of greater Mesopotamia)
- Daniels, Megan (Classical religion; Archaeology of Greece and the broader eastern Mediterranean; Late Bronze Age to Hellenistic Period; Ancient religion, sanctuaries, votive objects; Cross-cultural interaction; Ancient economies and trade; Divine kingship; Digital/data science approaches to the ancient world, particularly ancient religion; Migration and mobility across Eurasia; Phoenician culture; Ceramic analysis)
- De Angelis, Franco (Ancient Greek world history, environment, urbanism, developmnet of societies, colonization, economics, ancient literature)
- Fisher, Kevin (Prehistoric archaeology; Anthropology; Archaeological theory; Archaeometry; Archeological Data Analysis; Archeological Excavation Methods and Techniques; architecture; built environments; digital archaeology; Dynamics of Social Transformations; Mediterranean archaeology; Near Eastern archaeology; power; Social Life / Societal Life; social interaction; Urban Spaces and Urbanity; urbanism)
- Gardner, Gregg (Judaism, Rabbinic Literature, Rabbinic Judaism, Mishnah, Talmud, Jewish Studies, Jewish Law, Jewish Ethics, Charity, Jewish Ethics, Archaeology of Israel, Archaeology and Hebrew Bible, Archaeology of Jerusalemn )
- Griffin, Michael (Greek philosophy, Ancient philosophy, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Proclus, Neoplatonism, Ancient logic )
- Huemoeller, Katharine (Classical Greek and Ancient Rome history; Classical archaeology; Classical linguistics; Religion and religious studies; Ancient law (in theory and in practice); Documentary texts; gender and sexuality; Non-urban life in antiquity; Roman social history; Slavery (ancient and comparative))
- Marshall, Toph (Cinema studies; Classical Greek and Ancient Rome history; Classical archaeology; Classical linguistics; Film, television and digital media; Religion and religious studies; Literary or Artistic Works Analysis; Performance and Theatrical Productions)
- McCarty, Matthew (Archaeology; Roman archaeology; Roman history; Africa; Europe; postcolonialism; Marginalized peoples; Religion)
- McElduff, Siobhan (Ancient and modern translation, history of the book)
- Milstein, Sara (Classical Greek and Ancient Rome history; Classical archaeology; Classical linguistics; Religion and religious studies; biblical and cuneiform law; Hebrew Bible and Near Eastern Studies; History of Major Eras, Great Civilisations or Geographical Corpuses; literary history of the Bible; Literary or Artistic Works Analysis; Mesopotamian literature; Near Eastern scribal culture; Religious Contexts)
- Philbrick, Rachel (Classical literatures; Latin poetry; Greek poetry; genre; Textual authority and credibility; Intertextuality)
- Schneider, Thomas (Egyptian history and phonoly)
- Soon, Isaac (Early Christianity and New Testament)
- Yoo, Philip (Jewish studies; Religion and religious studies; Hebrew Bible; Second Temple Judaism)
- Yoon, Florence (heralds and the representation of the absent; anonymity and naming, particularly in Greek Tragedy; props and silent characters in Greek drama)
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