After the proposal is approved, students write the dissertation with the advice of their committee and present the completed dissertaton to the Department. Students are encouraged not to let this phase of their work draw them completely away from participation in the workshop and lecture programs of the University. The University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago co- operate in a program that permits students to exploit fully the resources of all three universities in the field of ancient philosophy. Students may enroll in the Department of Classics or the Department of Philosophy at the University of Chicago or in the Department of Philosophy at Northwestern or the University of Illinois at Chicago. Each of these departments permits a student to specialize in ancient philosophy and to enroll in courses at all three universities.
Participants also meet regularly throughout the year in workshops attended by visiting speakers.
While specializing in ancient philosophy, students will satisfy the Ph.D. requirements of their own department. The Department of Classics and the Committee on the Ancient Mediterranean World at the University of Chicago, the Department of History at the University of Illinois-Chicago, and the Department of Classics at Northwestern University all permit students to specialize in Ancient History, both Greek and Roman. Participants meet throughout the year for lectures and workshops. While participating in the Consortium, students must satisfy the degree requirements of their own program. The library system of the University of Chicago, one of the largest university collection in North America, contains well over 5,000,000 volumes.