ClassicsStudy Away & Summer Programs

To broaden the range of academic opportunities, especially in history, archeology, and art history, the department encourages majors to study abroad in Greece or Italy in their junior year. Students who participate in the semester and full-year programs featured below can expect major credit from the Classics Department, as long as the courses taken are suitable to fulfill departmental requirements.

Program Summary 

Academic Year and Semester Programs Approved by Amherst College

• College Year in Athens
• Intercollegiate Center for Studies in Rome, a.k.a. "Centro"
• Middlebury College-CMRS Oxford Humanities Program

Summer

• American Academy in Rome Classical Summer School
• American School of Classical Studies at Athens Summer Sessions
• College Year in Athens Summer Program
• Hellenic Education & Research Center
• Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies (ICCS) (Duke in Rome)

 Excavation

• Athenian Agora Summer Excavation

Academic Year and Semester Programs

COLLEGE YEAR IN ATHENS (CYA)

College Year in Athens offers a variety and range of classes that together provide a well-rounded picture of Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. Because the classes are taught in English, a previous knowledge of Modern Greek is not a prerequisite. Whenever relevant, classes are taught at sites and in museums, and an extensive study-travel program introduces all students to the major monuments of the country. 

The program is designed to make the culture and history of Greece and its neighbors accessible. Greece's location, at the confluence of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, is excellent for those interested in historical and political developments in the area. Classics majors and those interested in archaeology will find incomparable opportunities.

CYA employs a rolling admissions policy. Since applications are considered only as long as space is available, CYA strongly encourages early application. Please note: Proof of COVID-19 vaccination now required.

For more information:  info@cyathens.org                
Tel: 617.868.8200      Fax: 617.868.8207

^{Caroline Kinsley '17; View from the Acropolis, 2015 fall}

Better known as the "Centro," the ICCS provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to study ancient history and archaeology, Greek and Latin literature, and ancient art while in Rome. Students are expected to take four courses per semester. Frequent site visits and explorations, intensive museum tours and lectures, and wider-ranging trips outside Rome are included as part of the course.

MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE-CMRS OXFORD HUMANITIES PROGRAM

Middlebury College and Keble College at the University of Oxford have designed a humanities program for students interested in studying at Oxford, but based on the US academic year rather than the trimester academic calendar at Oxford. Students studying at CMRS are associate members of Keble College during their semester abroad. Unlike direct enrollment, students take tutorials as well as an integrated seminar course. As expected, students can study various subjects in English, but also history, philosophy, religion, gender studies, and classics.

From the CMRS website:

Based in the centre of historic Oxford, this unique study abroad programme offers challenging courses within Literature, History, Art History, Philosophy, Religion and Politics. The courses cover a wide range of modern as well as classical, medieval and early modern subjects.

Please note: The spring 2023 program is already full. Students may apply to be considered for a position on the waitlist.

Deadlines:   Fall semester (or full year): March 15            Spring semester: October 1

For more information:  mcmrs@middlebury.edu

Summer Programs 

The American Academy in Rome Summer School

The American School of Classical Studies at Athens

The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, one of America’s most distinguished centers devoted to advanced teaching and research, was founded in 1881 to provide American graduate students and scholars a base for their studies in the history and civilization of the Greek world. Today, it continues as a teaching institution, providing students a unique opportunity to study firsthand the sites and monuments of Greece. The school is also a superb resource for senior scholars pursuing research in fields ranging from antiquity to modern Greece, thanks to its internationally renowned libraries, the Blegen, dedicated to classical antiquity, and the Gennadius, which concentrates on the Greek world after the end of antiquity.

Summer Session
The six-week session is designed for those who wish to become acquainted with Greece and its antiquities in a limited time, and to improve their understanding of the relationship between the monuments, landscape, and climate of the country and its history, literature, and culture.

Enrollment is open to North American graduate and advanced undergraduate students and to high school and college instructors of classics and related subjects. Each session is limited to 20 participants.
Roughly half of the session is spent in travel throughout Greece. Three trips of varying duration give the participant an introduction to the major archaeological sites and museum collections in North and Central Greece, the Peloponnese, and Crete. The remainder of the session is devoted to study of the museums and monuments of Athens and the surrounding area with day trips to such sites as Marathon, Sounion, and Eleusis. Each participant will usually present two "on-site" oral reports on assigned topics. The program is demanding, both physically and intellectually.

2023 session dates: June 12-July 26 
Application deadline for summer 2023: January 9, 2023.

College Year in Athens-Summer Program

Students interested in short-term, intensive study abroad are invited to take advantage of the CYA Summer Program, which offers unique, experience-based opportunities for learning. The semester-equivalent courses are offered in two consecutive sessions that run from late May into July and have been arranged to provide a number of options for continuing or complementary study. The program includes courses on the sites and monuments of ancient Athens, Modern Greek language and anthropology/service-learning on Paros, as well as study travel courses in archaeology, history, and religion that introduce students to major sites in Greece and the Aegean coast of Turkey. A new summer course offers participation in the excavation of an archaic sanctuary on a small Aegean island.

EXCAVATION AND FIELDWORK

Athenian Agora (sponsored by The American School of Classical Studies at Athens) 
This program is for volunteer excavators wishing to participate in the archaeological excavations of the Athenian Agora during the summer.

For additional information or an application, contact

Agora Volunteer Program
American School of Classical Studies
6-8 Charlton Street
Princeton, NJ 08540-5232
Tel: 609-683-0800 Fax: 609-924-0578
E-mail: ascsa@ascsa.org Website: www.ascsa.edu.gr  

Additional Resources

• The Classics Department Office, 15 Grosvenor House

• Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning

• Undergraduate Programs in Classics

• Graduate-level Classics Programs

•  International Institute of Classical Studies in Orvieto, a summer study abroad program in Italy sponsored by the University of Arizona. The session runs from late May to late June; applications are due February 25.