Patrick Deja has always enjoyed ancient history, and that led him to register for a new major available to undergraduate students this spring — classical studies.

"Classics is a lot of our fundamentals," said Deja, a junior. "Our core values are based on stuff from back then, so it's good to have an idea of where our government comes from."

The new major in the College of Arts & Letters will prepare students for careers in law, medicine or teaching, said John Rauk, associate professor and chairman for the Department of French, Classics and Italian.

Classical studies junior John Breen said he plans to use the major to either attend law school or become a professor of classical studies.

"A classical education — it's very prestigious," Breen said. "It's very versatile for getting into different graduate schools."

Although the new major has been planned for some time, most of the work in creating it came in the past year, Rauk said.

The classical studies major was created to combine the former ancient studies and Latin majors into something that would "reach out to a larger audience of students," Rauk said.

Students were able to officially declare a classical studies major at the start of this semester. The number of students enrolled could not be determined by press time, said Pamela Horne, director of admissions and assistant to the provost for enrollment management.

Rauk said a benefit of the program is its focus on the professor-student relationship — the program employs just three faculty members and no teaching assistants.

"We get to know students very, very well with their time with us," he said. "They do indeed get a much more collaborative faculty experience than some other majors, because that's the way we are."

Requirements for the major cover a variety of courses — including history, philosophy, classical studies, history of art and the Latin and Greek languages.

Students also have the opportunity to earn a Latin teaching minor.

Several new courses — including Roman Law and Ancient Novel in English Translation — were created to help accentuate the classical studies major, Rauk said.

Horne said it is too soon to tell whether this new major will affect enrollment for the college.

"It takes time to build up a reputation," she said. "My sense is that there will always be students interested in majors that don't necessarily have a direct career path."

But the program has already received a strong response from students, Rauk said.

The first students to complete the classical studies major will graduate in May, because they have already completed the prerequisites for the major, he said.