The program in Classical Archaeology allows a student to focus his or her course-work on archaeology and art history. It is recommended for students who intend to pursue further graduate work in classical archaeology, though students are advised to familiarize themselves well in advance with the language requirements of doctoral programs in which they have an interest. This program requires the writing of a "Master's Thesis" or "Master's Paper".

Thirty-two hours of coursework are required, and students may choose either the thesis option or the paper option. Both options require the Classics proseminar (CLA 5936; one credit hour), nine credit hours of survey courses in classical art and archaeology (chosen from ARH 5111, 5119, 5125, 5140, 5160, 5174r); six hours of seminars in classical art and archaeology (usually CLA 5799), four hours of fieldwork (CLA 5789), and successful completion of comprehensive examinations. The thesis option requires successful completion of a thesis (CLA 5971; six credit hours) and six hours of additional courses in Classics. The paper option also requires completion of a research paper (CLA 5910; three credit hours) and nine hours of additional courses in Classics.

All students must pass a fourth-semester level course in either Greek or Latin (usually LNW 5932, GRW 5909) or demonstrate comparable proficiency. They must have the equivalent of one year’s study of the other of the two classical languages. These requirements should be viewed as the minimum of language preparation: students in archaeology are strongly encouraged to achieve graduate level proficiency in at least one ancient language.