Featured Alumni: Graduate Program Testimonials

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics, Philology Track
Graduation: May 2020
Post-Graduation Plans: Ph.D. Student in Classics at UC Berkeley

Testimonial: My time in the program has been more enriching than I could ever imagine. Not only have I grown as a scholar and an instructor, but I have also made lasting connections for which I am grateful.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics, Archaeology Track, & M.S. in Geosciences
Graduation: May 2021
Post-Graduation Plans: PhD in Classical Archaeology at UNC Chapel Hill

Testimonial: I have grown immensely as both a student and a scholar through coursework, conversations, and collaboration with my professors and fellow graduate students in the department. This program has given me opportunities to form lasting friendships, meet both established and early-career scholars, and present original research at regional and national conferences.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics, Philology Track 
Graduation: May 2015 
Post-Graduation Plans: PhD Student in Classics at the University of Washington

Testimonial: The MA program in Classics not only helped me greatly improve my language skills in both Latin and Greek, it also had a great influence on my scholarly interests. I was exposed to many authors I had never read before and ways of thinking about literature and material culture that still have an impact on the work I've produced at the PhD level.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics, Philology Track
Graduation: May 2019 
Post-Graduation Plans: Teaching Middle School and High School Latin at Mount de Sales Academy, Macon, Georgia

Testimonial: My two years here have been the most difficult, yet most rewarding, years of my life both academically and professionally. Through hard work, determination, and a fantastic support structure made up of my family, friends, and the faculty, I was able to vastly improve my skills in the classical languages, as well as teaching, and research. Because of this program, I feel I am now qualified to instruct young minds and inspire them to further their education in the Classical World. This program has opened up opportunities I never would have had without it, and because of my time at TTU, I am prepared, ready, and eager to begin my life as an instructor. I am so thankful for my time here and I will look back on it fondly.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics, Philology Track
Graduation: May 2020
Post-Graduation Plans: PhD student in Classics, Washington University in St. Louis

Testimonial: The program here has helped me significantly. Although my languages were good coming into the program, I was incredibly anxious about my research capabilities and in turn publicly communicating those ideas. In my time here, however, not only did I experience my first national conferences, but I also taught my own Introductory Latin courses. Texas Tech Classics has helped me grow more secure in myself as a researcher and especially a teacher thanks in no small part to the phenomenal and ever supportive faculty. I am grateful for the opportunities granted, responsibilities entrusted, and friends made here because each experience will only help in my PhD and beyond.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in Classics, 
Graduation: May 2006
Post-Graduation Plans: M.T.S. 2008, Harvard Divinity School; J.D. 2012, Harvard Law School
Current Position: Staff Attorney, Supreme Court of Texas

Testimonial: Of all the skills that I developed while studying Classics, it is perhaps close textual analysis that has yielded the most fruit in the ensuing years.  My subsequent study of Theology focused on scriptural exegesis.  Law school, too, consisted largely of interpreting and applying authoritative texts—constitutions, statutes, regulations, and judicial opinions.  As an attorney, I have dealt closely with texts day in and day out, whether it is writing a brief on behalf of a client, working on a draft opinion for a justice, or reviewing a memo from a law clerk.  Good legal work requires attention to detail and appreciation of language’s nuances.  I am thankful for the training that I received at Texas Tech, and I hope that future Classics students will serve their communities in a wide range of fields.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics, Philology Track
Graduation: May 2022
Post-Graduation Plans: PhD Student in Interdisciplinary Classics and Ancient History, Rutgers University 

Testimonial: During my time at TTU I have learned so much from so many great professors. New avenues of research into literary criticism, historiography, poetry, and archaeology have been opened up to me, and my knowledge of both Greek and Latin has also improved immensely during my time here. I have made a number of close friends whilst studying, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have served as a teaching assistant in a number of classes and to have worked as a Latin instructor teaching Virgil's Aeneid over the summer.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics
Graduation: May 2026 
Post-Graduation Plans: Ph.D. in Classics, University of Virginia

Testimonial: Texas Tech Classics has provided me with countless opportunities to develop as both a student and scholar. This program helped me improve my ancient languages, while also showing me the process of producing scholarship. I was able to present at conferences both in the States and abroad, working closely with Classics faculty members on each of these presentations. I was also given my own sections of Latin (introduction and intermediate), increasing my abilities as an instructor. I overall found consistent support at every turn from the entire community at TTU and will always owe a debt of gratitude to the Classics program. There was no better place to become a scholar than in TTU’s Classics program.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics, Archaeology Track, & M.S. in Geosciences
Graduation: May 2016 
Post-Graduation Plans: PhD Student at the Jukowsky Institute for Archaeology, Brown University

Testimonial: My time in the Classics MA at Texas Tech combined careful instruction with research opportunities, fieldwork, and teaching, a recipe that served as a wonderful bridge between undergraduate studies and doctoral research. The faculty pushed me to experiment and explore, finding research interests that have developed into dissertation research, and coupled this with intensive and effective language studies. In addition, I was encouraged to pursue interdisciplinary initiatives that fundamentally inform my current research. The friends that I made during my time in TTU Classics have become my colleagues, and we continue to collaborate and work closely alongside of one another, despite being spread throughout universities across the country.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics
Graduation: May 2026 
Post-Graduation Plans: Ph.D. in Classics - GISRAM (Graduate Interdisciplinary Studies in Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean), Ohio State University. 

Testimonial: I have especially enjoyed my time in this program for the opportunities it has afforded me to engage in my research interests through multiple lenses. I am likewise especially thankful for the breadth of authors covered in the Greek and Latin language courses, and for both the connections made with faculty and with my peers in the program. Finally, the importance of the multiple ways in which TTU has supported me and all of my peers and made it possible to be here and complete this program cannot be overstated. There are very few similar programs out there that are able and willing to do this. 

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics, Archaeology Track
Graduation: May 2017 
Post-Graduation Plans: PhD Student in Classical Archaeology at the University of Missouri with a focus on Late Bronze Age Greece

Testimonial: I joined the MA program at TTU in order to strengthen my languages and delve deeper into Bronze Age archaeology. The rigorousness of the coursework and the impressive faculty were particularly helpful. In addition to the coursework, while at TTU, I had the opportunity to teach an upper level Latin course and TA for multiple classes. Overall, the MA program at TTU helped me develop my languages and research skills so that I was prepared to begin my PhD program.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics, Philology Track, & the Graduate Certificate in Linguistics
Graduation: May 2016 
Post-Graduation Plans: PhD Student in Classics at Harvard University

Testimonial: I felt that the MA program at TTU really helped me become more mature as a scholar. I especially enjoyed that the department was close-knit, which gave me a good deal of one-on-one time with professors. Since a PhD program moves so quickly, with deadline after deadline constantly approaching, it was nice to have already done graduate work before entering the PhD. The MA allowed me to more fully develop my languages, widen my perspective on the ancient world, discover fields of specialization, and learn about valuable resources indispensable to the field of Classics and beyond.

Major: B.A. in LACU-Classics, Philology Track 
Graduation: May 2015 
Post Graduation Plans: PhD Student in Classics at Princeton University

Testimonial: I completed the MA in Classics with a focus on Latin Literature in May 2015, and had the privilege of teaching undergraduate Latin at TTU for 3 years after graduation. The MA at Texas Tech gave me many professional opportunities, from extra time to improve my language proficiency (ancient and modern) to teaching experience to work in academic writing and publishing. The support and mentoring of the faculty in CMLL and the friendships I made within my cohort have been invaluable to me as I move forward in the PhD program in Classics at Princeton. When I complete the PhD, I hope to pursue a career in teaching at the university level.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics, Philology Track
Graduation: May 2019 
Post-Graduation Plans: PhD Student in Classics, Columbia University

Testimonial: Texas Tech Classics has helped me grow as a scholar, teacher, and colleague in so many ways. I am much better prepared in my languages, I have matured in my research interests, and I have gained valuable insight and experience in teaching and mentoring in the field. The faculty have all been incredibly supportive and encouraging. My fellow graduate students continually pushed me to be a better Classicist. Texas Tech Classics has been a great place to grow as a scholar and person.

Concentration/Track: M.A. in LACU-Classics, Archaeology Track
Graduation: May 2018 
Post-Graduation Plans: Latin Teacher & Coach at Norfolk Academy (Norfolk, VA) & Member of the Excavations in the Athenian Agora

Testimonial: The Classics MA program at TTU turned me from an archaeologist who grudgingly studied Latin and Greek as a requirement into a devoted student of those languages. The brilliant and supportive faculty encouraged and promoted my archaeological pursuits, while expanding my horizons in history, philology, and philosophy. I am now settled in a career I love, which I ascribe entirely to my time at TTU.