Accommodations will be in bright, spacious, shared apartments, with large balconies overlooking the lively street scene; they are located in a non-tourist, genuinely Greek neighborhood, yet still smack in the center of everything.  From here, it’s just a ten-minute walk to the Temple of Zeus, the Theatre of Dionysios, and the Acropolis in one direction, while the modern downtown, the royal palaces, vast gardens, grand museums, and high-end retail shopping are all just a ten-minute walk in the other direction.  The neighborhood itself is very friendly, and like most Athenian neighborhoods includes a lovely, tiny “village square,” where kids play soccer and old folks sip coffee at sidewalk cafes (you can too, and the food’s great).  And surrounding the little square are grocery stores, pharmacies, tavernas (tavernas are nice, sit-down restaurants, not taverns), internet cafes, and wonderful, wonderful bakeries—you can get everything you actually need right here in the neighborhood.  The apartments are also just a block from the Athens Centre, our college hosts, where our classrooms, library, internet lab, and other facilities are located, along with their amazingly friendly and helpful staff and professors.

View the Class Activities and Excursions and Course Descriptions.

COMMON READING

In the first week, the classes meet together for the "common reading," including some selections from the Iliad, plays by Aeschylus and very funny Aristophanes, and chapters from the best introduction to modern Greece- the entertaining memoir, Eurydice Street by an English woman who moved to Athens with her Greek husband in 2004 and thus can present both the insider and outsider points of view on modern Athens.   This week will provide an introduction to both Ancient and Modern Greece, while actually experiencing Ancient and Modern Greece in class, through excursions, and in daily activities.

ENGL 316 or 316 Honors: Ancient Greece in Myth and Drama

This course is required of all program participants as a general background for understanding Ancient Greece, its literature, culture, art, and architecture (all excursions are parts of this essential course). 
After the common reading, we will continue the study of the Greeks’ creation of literature, philosophy, and drama while working through some of the famous works that formed the original basis of all Western literature and thought. These will include brief readings from Homer’s Iliad, describing the Trojan War, the grandest achievement of the Mycenaean Age; Aeschylus’s play The Persians, the oldest play in existence in the entire world (really); Euripides’ violent, surrealistic The Bacchae; and Aristophanes’ lovely, over-the-top comedy, The Frogs.  We’ll also take a brief look at Plato’s famed Symposium and at Socrates, whose life changed forever after the oracle at Delphi advised him that “no man was wiser.”  This is an active course, and we will most usually be on our feet performing these works or otherwise working with them in dynamic group activities; and all the wonderful excursions are actually part of this course (for example, we’ll see Mycenae and Delphi, as well as the Theatre of Dionysios where all these plays were first performed, and much more; for more complete details and photos on the whole program, click on the links above for "Class Acitivities and Excursions," as well as "Course Descriptions”). 

International Studies (IS) 305: Greece (or IS 305 Honors) crosslisted as ENGL 414 (or 414 Honors): Greece Today!  Modern Greek Culture, History, and Literature

After the common reading, this course will focus on fiction and facts about contemporary Athens, including more chapters of Eurydice Street, as well as practical works such as the Rough and Lonely Planet guides to Athens and Greece, all of which will provide a look at every aspect of modern Athens from history, customs, taboos, architecture, street scenes, and food to night spots, transportation, beaches, and shopping.  Typical assignments in this class will also include researching particular Athenian neighborhoods, archaeological sites, and other Greek cities while in class, then visiting them in person to see what they look like, smell like, what the houses are like, the street life, cafes, and so on.  This essentially converts the students into the experts and guides of particular sites that are then visited by the rest of the class.

ENGL 306 or 306 Honors: Creative Travel Writing

After the common reading, 306 includes some short readings as samples of creative travel writing, but mainly it involves easy, user-friendly activities to help students see more and experience more in Greece, and thus to recreate in writing any and all of students' best Greek experiences.  Students keep a detailed private journal and then work together to craft more polished stories and travel sketches.  NO SPECIAL WRITING TALENT IS NEEDED! THERE ARE NO WRONG ANSWERS!

Summer 2010

May 13 - June 1, 2010

$3,995

*cost may change at any time due to the currency exchange 

• Tuition
• Housing
• Some Meals
• Health and Travel Insurance
• Local Excursions
• Airport Pickup
• Support Services

• Fill out the IEP Application and review information on the Apply page.
• Pay a $200 deposit to International Education Programs.
• Send an official transcript from your home institution to the address below.

Send the above materials to:

International Education Programs
Jacksonville University
2800 University Blvd North
Gooding 105
Jacksonville, Florida 32211