UWA Handbook 2025

Minor Overview

About this minor

Latin remains a major world language in the 21st century. The influence of the Latin language may be seen in modern legal, medical and scientific vocabulary, as well as in musical, literary and religious traditions that stretch back to the ancient world. Moreover, Latin provides students with a good basis for learning many other Classical and modern languages as well as providing insight into how languages work, including English. This minor groups together the four Latin language units currently offered as part of the CLAN major. These units offer a clear progression, from introductory level Latin (no prior knowledge of Latin is assumed) through to advanced Latin where students will read unadapted Latin texts. At the end of this course of study, students will have the opportunity to read classic works of Latin literature (such as Virgil's Aeneid and Ovid's Metamorphoses), and be introduced to Latin of later periods and cultures, from medieval Europe to the early modern Americas and East Asia. This minor provides a pathway for students who wish to gain facility in Latin, but outside of the CLAN major. This minor is aimed primarily at three groups of students. The first group comprises those students who are interested in studying Latin so as to provide them with a foundation in one of the main Indo-European languages (Italian, Spanish, French, German), which will then complement their study of one or more of those languages. The second group comprises those students from outside the Humanities, e.g. science students, law students, medicine students and music students, for whom a knowledge of Latin will be of great use for their degrees and professional careers. The third group is those students who are interested in reading Latin literature, e.g. students majoring in English or History who will benefit from engaging directly with Latin literature: especially those hoping to specialise in medieval and early modern history and literature, intellectual and religious history, and history of science and medicine. For students taking a minor which shares units with their other unit sets (majors or minors): in order for minors to be recognised on academic and graduation documents, students may only have a maximum of one unit overlapping between their unit sets.

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) acquire a grounding in Latin grammar and syntax.; (2) gain sufficient knowledge of the Latin language (vocabulary, grammar, syntax) so as to read unadapted Latin texts.; and (3) develop an understanding of Latin's relationship to other Indo-European languages..

Units