Latin
The Department of Classics offers a four-semester sequence of Latin language.
LATN 101, Elementary Latin I
LATN 102, Elementary Latin II
LATN 203, Intermediate Latin I
LATN 204, Intermediate Latin II or LATN 205, Medieval Latin
The first three should be taken in succession starting with your level of placement, based on your own knowledge of the language. The fourth semester, LATN 204, intermediate Latin II, is taught every other spring and alternates each year with 205, Medieval Latin. LATN 204 and 205 are not required to move on to more advanced study.
Courses available in fall 2024 are LATN 101, 102, and 203 as well as an advanced reading class in Latin that will focus on Ovid (LATN 223), and at an even more advanced level a class on Tacitus and Pliny’s letters (LATN 354). Spring 2025 courses offered will be LATN 101, 102, 203, and 204 as well as advanced reading in Cicero (LATN 222) and an even more advanced 300-level course, subject to be determined by mid-fall.
For a complete listing of Latin courses and course descriptions, consult http://catalog.unc.edu/courses/latn/.
If you are beginning your study of Latin without any prior knowledge, please enroll in any of the LATN 101 sections.
If you previously studied Latin in high school or college, you must take the online placement exam. The results of this test will be the best indicator of which course you should enroll in at UNC. After completing the test, if you have specific questions about course offerings, you may contact the Director of the Elementary Latin Program (refer to the “Language Programs” tab) via email.
Note that the online placement test is diagnostic only and does not allow students to earn By-Examination (BE) credit for any LATN course. Students who place into LATN 204 on the basis of the online placement test are eligible to take Part 2 of the placement test, which allows them to earn Placement (PL) credit for LATN 203 and thus satisfy the foreign language requirement. The difference between BE and PL credit is that BE credit provides both credit for University courses and credit hours; PL credit provides credit for University courses but no credit hours. For further information on BE and PL credit, see the Undergraduate Admissions website.
If you place into LATN 204 in the placement test and have testing credit for LATN 204 you should consider enrolling in LATN 223 (Ovid) in the fall 2024 semester and/or LATN 205 (Intermediate Latin II) or LATN 222 (Cicero) in spring 2025. For questions related to Latin courses at the 200 and 300 level, you may consult the Director of the Intermediate Latin Program, Dr. James Rives.
If you have trouble getting into the Latin class you want please contact the Department Secretary and the Department Manager to discuss your specific situation. Contact information can be found on the Classics website (refer to the “Staff” tab). Look for our fall 2024 course descriptions on the Classics homepage at http://classics.unc.edu/.