Applications for admission to the M.A. and Ph.D. programs are submitted directly to the Graduate School ONLINE. (Fall 2025 Application will be available October 1, 2024. Application fee is $90.00) The application deadline is December 15, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. For application naterials and information, please visit the Graduate Division of the School of Arts and Sciences.
GRE
AAMW applicants are not required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
Personal Statement
In the personal statement, all Ph.D. applications within the Graduate Division of Arts & Sciences should address the following:
Please describe how your background and academic experiences have influenced your decision to pursue a graduate degree and led you to apply to Penn. Your essay should detail your specific research interests and intellectual goals within your chosen field. Please provide information about your educational trajectory, intellectual curiosity and academic ambitions. If you have overcome adversity and/or experienced limited access to resources or opportunities in your field of study, please feel free to share how that has affected the course of your education. We are interested in your lived experiences and how your particular perspective might contribute to the inclusive and dynamic learning community that Penn values and strives to create.
In addition, the AAMW graduate group asks that the personal statement includes the following:
Please provide detailed information about any field work, laboratory experience, museum engagement, or other cultural heritage activities. We are also interested in hearing if you have experience with the digital and/or environmental humanities.
Writing Sample
There is no specific length required for the writing sample, but it should represent your most advanced research to date and should not exceed 30 pages, excluding images.
Languages
As far as ancient languages go, if Classical art and archaeology is your principal area of concentration, you should be aware that AAMW rarely admits candidates unless they have begun instruction in both Greek and Latin, and taken at least one language to an intermediate-advanced level.
If your training in Greek and Latin is not strong, consider enrolling in an intensive ancient language program prior to applying to AAMW. Excellent summer programs in Greek and Latin are offered at U.C. Berkeley, CUNY, and the University of Chicago, among others. A year-long program in Greek and Latin is also offered by Penn's Department of Classical Studies, which also has two competitive fellowships that will fund a year of study for post-bac students. Other universities have similar programs.
If your field of concentration is the Ancient Near East, Egypt, or Bronze Age Aegean, we recognize that the ancient languages of these regions cannot be studied at most institutions, and so previous instruction in these languages is not expected.
The contact information for the AAMW Graduate Chair, as well as the affiliated Penn Graduate Groups, can be found on the Contact page.