The program will provide students with advanced training in the study of the ancient world, focusing primarily on the culture of Greece and Rome but also encompassing the surrounding cultures with which they interacted. It is a research degree that will take 16 months to complete. Students can choose between a more coursework-based program with a Major Research Paper, or a more research-intensive Thesis option with fewer coursework requirements. The program will be offered full-time.

The program will provide students with the research skills, language training and extensive exposure to material relating to the ancient Greco-Roman world construed broadly, from its origins in pre-Classical Greece through the domination of Roman culture and the impact of these on the developments of subsequent centuries, including the early modern period. It will be a research-intensive program that will allow the next generation of scholars and citizens to progress further in their studies relating to the ancient world and to gain a deeper understanding of the origins of our own culture. The program will prepare graduates to continue on to academic studies at the PhD level or, alternately, to work in and/or engage in further professional training in broader contexts (for example, in teaching, information sciences, museum studies, restoration work, architecture and law).