Classical Armenian Studies MSt

**The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2024). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.**<br/><br/>This is an intensive one-year taught degree course. It is intended to give students experience in reading and interpreting a wide range of Armenian texts, from a choice of genres, either as a stand-alone qualification or as a solid foundation in the subject for those intending to go on to do doctoral research.<br/><br/>Oxford is the only university in the UK where Armenian may be studied as a main subject. Within the long span of Armenian history, the study of Armenia at Oxford concentrates on the period when Armenian sources give valuable information not only about Armenian culture itself, but also about neighbouring peoples of the Near East.<br/><br/>Emphasis is given to the study of the classical and medieval forms of the language and to Armenian literature from the fifth to the seventeenth centuries.<br/><br/>After an initial introduction to the grammar and syntax of classical Armenian, you will read a variety of texts. An understanding of the literary culture of the period and the historical background is thus obtained directly from the original sources.<br/><br/>The course consists of four papers. The first is a core course on the language, literature, history, and culture of Ancient and Medieval Armenia.<br/><br/>The remaining three papers are core courses on key Armenian literary genres. For these papers you must choose to study texts in three of the following subjects:<br/><br/><br/>- biblical texts<br/><br/><br/>- homiletic and polemical literature<br/><br/><br/>- hagiographic texts<br/><br/><br/>- historical literature of the 5th-9th centuries<br/><br/><br/>- historical literature of the 10th-14th centuries<br/><br/><br/>- religious and secular verse<br/><br/><br/>- any other subject approved by the Faculty Board<br/><br/><br/>Teaching offered consists of classes and tutorials and may include lectures and seminars.<br/><br/>Preparation for the core course is normally achieved through individual reading and six to eight tutorials for which essays not exceeding 2,500 words on set topics will be written and discussed.<br/><br/>The remaining three papers are prepared for in grammar and text reading classes for which thorough, extensive preparation is required of on average a minimum of four hours per hour in class.<br/><br/>Classes are normally offered for four or five hours a week during Michaelmas and Hilary terms (the first two terms of the academic year), as well as the first four weeks in Trinity term. These are followed by three weeks of revision by the candidate(s) during which revision classes or meetings - online or in person - may be organised before the examinations which normally take place in week eight of Trinity term.