I'm hopping this is more or less the right place to ask, but I've decided I want to peruse an academic path once again, towards the direction or classics, Latin and Hellenic studies. But specifically, it's the religious and philosophical aspects which I'm more concerned with; to be precise, subjects such as hermeticism, platonism, Gnosticism, early Christianity, etc. I'm a bit confused what would be the best approach to study these subjects in an academic realm, whether I should pursue the classics department or something in religious studies. I'd love to hear if any of you have any advice on the matter, what's the best way to approach these subjects academically, and perhaps even some insight into programs to look into (preferably in the new York city area).
Paging /u/talondearg
Here I am. I trained across classics, philosophy, and religious studies in separate undergraduate and graduate programs, and am currently 11mths short of completing a PhD in Late Antique Christianity in particular.
I'm not super familiar with different US schools per se. Based on your interests, you're probably better off in an appropriately situated religious studies department, rather than classics. Classics tends to have a narrow focus and often its on 'literature' i.e. poetry and prose works as works of art.
I'd look for a religious studies program that specialises in these areas, and also look through the faculty pages to see what the professors are writing/researching on. You are going to want a place that is a little bit indisciplinary to cover these kinds of subjects.
However, that said, depending on your current language skills, classics departments are often a better place to hone language skills in Greek and Latin. It depends what stage you're at in that regard already. If you want to do any serious work in these fields, you have to bring an A-game language wise.
Finally, realise that your job prospects are poor. That's the nature of the US academic market. Don't pursue any higher research degree without being super rich or receiving a full scholarship. Realise that your chances of becoming an academic, even if you do well in academia, are still quite slim. I would actively discourage people from academia from an economic/employment angle.