Athens Program
Please
note: Study abroad programs sponsored by the undergraduate College of the University of Chicago are open to University of Chicago students only. Applications from outside the University are not accepted.
The University of Chicago's spring-quarter Athens Program provides students in the College with an opportunity to study the history and culture of ancient and modern Greece in Athens, the celebrated center of that culture, now the lively and cosmopolitan capital of contemporary Greece. The core of the Athens Program is the three-course sequence "Greek Antiquity and its Legacy," taught in compressed form during the ten-week quarter. This sequence, which meets the College's civilization requirement, treats ancient Greece from prehistory to the present day and pays particular attention to the role the classical past has played - and continues to play - in the more recent history of Greece. Classroom discussions of selected texts are supplemented by a series of excursions to historical sites both within Athens and at other Greek locations (for example: Mycenae, Delphi, Olympia and Thessaloniki). In addition to the civilization sequence participants take a fourth course in "practical" modern Greek language. Students with sufficient knowledge of ancient Greek may substitute a text-based course in the ancient language in place of the modern. The headquarters of the Athens Program is the Athens Centre, an institution devoted to the promotion of Greek language and culture and located in Mets, a residential area in the center of the City.
Students occupy shared apartments in the vicinity of the Athens Centre.
As a participant in the Athens Program, you receive three credits for the Greek Civilization sequence. If you have already met the civilization requirement these courses are usable as free electives. You also receive a fourth credit for the Greek language (modern or ancient) course. Course titles, units of credit, and grades are placed on your Chicago transcript.
You remain registered full-time in the College and pay regular College tuition plus an Athens program fee and the College's study abroad administrative fee. The Athens program fee covers accommodation and some excursion costs. (For precise figures go to Study Abroad Program Fees.)
You retain your financial aid eligibility. However, two expenses--the study abroad administrative fee and the round-trip air fare to Athens--are not underwritten by College Financial Aid. On the other hand, since you cannot be expected to work part-time while in Athens, the self-help component of your financial aid package does not include a term-time employment factor.
The Chicago Athens Program is designed for University of Chicago undergraduates in good standing who are beyond their first year in the College. It is not available to non-Chicago students. Normally you should be beyond your first year in the College, though first-year students may be eligible for the Program in exceptional cases. While the Program stipulates no minimum grade-point average, your transcript should demonstrate that you are a serious student who will make the most of this opportunity. Because the Greek Civilization course is taught in English, previous study of Greek is not required. At the same time you are encouraged to study Greek (either ancient or modern) before the beginning of the Program, and your applications is likely to be strengthened by doing so (and your experience of Athens enhanced). Please note: Because of the considerable demand on the Chicago civilization programs abroad, no student may participate in more than one of these programs.
Applications to Chicago study abroad programs are available on line. To apply to the Athens Program you submit a general study abroad application electronically, then download the supplementary application specific to the Chicago civilization programs and submit it on paper normally in winter quarter of the previous academic year. In preparing your application and especially in composing the required personal statement, you should keep in mind that admission to the civilization programs is selective and that the number of places available is insufficient to meet the considerable demand. If you accept an offer of admission you are expected to secure your place with a deposit equivalent to the study abroad administrative fee. (To begin the application process go to the Study Abroad General Application.)
If you would like to discuss the Athens Program
and the possibility of participating in it, please contact Jenny
Quijano Sax (Harper 216; 834-5424; jquijano@uchicago.edu
Statements contained on this site are subject
to change without notice.
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