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Study Abroad

                                                   Work Placement Opportunity

    

The Department of Classical Studies, and the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG), is proud to offer a Work Placement opportunity for our students. The successful candidate will receive funds to work in Athens, Greece from ca. mid-January – mid-April, 2010 as an intern at CIG. You will assist in running CIG’s office and library, along with helping out with various other duties. You will have the opportunity to live in a dynamic European capital, be part of the most vibrant Classics community in the world, and be able to visit the all the locations that you’ve only read about in class.

Archaeological site of Mycenae in the (northeastern) Peloponnese

 

Quote from Kyle Campbell - February 2013

   

          Interning at the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG) was an experience that I will never forget, and I strongly encourage any classicist or anthropologist to apply. I learned so much about Athens, Greece, and many other aspects of Greek culture and history - from ancient to modern. You get to finally see in person so many things that you previously only saw in textbooks or heard of in lectures and there's simply nothing else like it. I was fortunate to visit sites such as Mycenae, Nafplio, Delphi, Messene, and of course the Parthenon and Ancient Agora in Athens. I was also fortunate enough to take GRK 421 (Greek Epigraphy) through correspondence with Dr. Ager (as this course was actually held on campus at the time), and so I had the opportunity with CIG as well as the British School in Athens to meet many scholars and do research on a real inscription. I created a Squeeze (paper impression of the inscription) and could physically work with the inscription! Certainly something that cannot happen in a lecture hall!

                Aside from visiting many places and working on my course, I met so many people from so many different backgrounds and learned so much about our world! I especially appreciated my time spent with the Norwegians and the Norwegian Institute, and of course the staff at CIG. They made me feel at home with them, and I managed to forge many great friendships.

                Overall, I have come back changed from this experience. I feel enriched, and I am entirely grateful to the Classics and Anthropology Departments as well as CIG for offering students the possibility to experience such a spectacular journey.

Tusen takk, mine venner!

~ Kyle Campbell

  

 

                                           CLAS 390 - Classical Studies Abroad

This course features a combination of academic study and firsthand investigation of museums and ancient sites, normally in Greece and/or Italy.

                                                                   Spring 2010

    

     Continuing our commitment to a strong international component to our teaching philosophy, the department offered another study abroad course (CLAS 390) to explore the monuments, sites and cultures of Turkey, both ancient and modern.  As usual, the course was offered in conjunction with the Department of Anthropology to complement their archaeology program and in total twenty-four students and five faculty, including for the first time two graduate students, departed from Toronto for a three week tour of the Western coast of Turkey, and select sites in Greece.

     After landing in Istanbul, the students were treated to the full spectrum of cultures one can experience for several days.  The Hittites, the Persians, the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans and modern Turks were all represented in the various monuments and materials found throughout the city and its museum.  Highlights were the famed Hagia Sophia, the hippodrome and Topkapi palace.  From Istanbul the group headed south along the Ionian coast to visit the many cities that played a major role in Mediterranean history for millennia.  Perhaps the most anticipated stop was at the fabled city of Troy – city of the Trojan War and locale for one of the seminal works of classical literature, Homer’s Iliad.  Further south we continued to such cities as Pergamon, with its dramatic vistas, Ephesus, with its sprawling ruins and Bodrum, the ancient city of Halikarnassos.  These and other sites were famous in antiquity, perhaps most famous as cities addressed by St. Paul in his letters, but also for their many monuments – The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Mausoleum at Halikarnossos were two of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

     From Bodrum we drove south to catch a ferry to the island of Rhodes, where we saw where the famous Colossus would have been, bringing the total of ancient wonders seen to three.  We explored the ancient site of Lindos and then viewed the ancient castle of the Knights Hospitaller.  Again we explored the history and culture of the land from ancient through medieval times.  We then took an overnight ferry to Athens and finished our tour in this exemplary European city, visiting the Acropolis, the National Museum and even getting a “behind the scenes” tour of the Athenian Agora.  All involved agreed that this was superlative experience that allowed the students to get “beyond the classroom” and see ancient ruins in a much better state of preservation than normal.  The food, the people and the landscape of Turkey also allowed the students to immerse themselves in a culture very different from our own.  We can’t wait for the next trip! See slide show.

 

Spring 2007

    

     In the Spring semester of 2007, the department offered a study abroad course for the students to explore the history, monuments and culture of ancient Greece.  Given the interdisciplinary nature of Classics and the several faculty interested in aspects of this culture, the course was offered in conjunction with the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Classics from the University of Winnipeg.  In total, thirty-three students and seven faculty left for a three week adventure to Athens and beyond.

      After landing in Athens the students got a few days to acclimate to the time difference, the climate and a new culture.  It allowed us to wander around the city and immerse ourselves in the ancient material, like the Parthenon, or visiting the Pnyx, seat of the ancient Athenian democracy.  The museums and sites of Athens provided the prime objects of study, but the purpose of the course was also to experience Greece in all its glory – this included looking at Roman, Byzantine, Frankish, Venetian, Ottoman and modern Greece.  The latter was especially enjoyed by the students as they explored Athens as a great European metropolis.  The shopping, the language, the food – the whole trip provided an unparalleled opportunity for the students to experience life in a different culture.

      From Athens we made several trips to famous areas near the city, like the silver mines of Laurion, source of Athens’ wealth, and the famous temple of Poseidon at Sounion.  We then left Athens and headed north to Delphi, seat of the ancient oracle and great sanctuary of Apollo.  We then headed south to Olympia, seat of the ancient Olympic games, across the mountains to Sparta, home of the great warriors of antiquity, and then to the old capital of Nauplion, which acted as a base to explore the Argolid, looking at ancient sites like Mycenae, Epidauros and Corinth.   We were lucky enough to have several guest speakers at this point with Prof. Glen Bugh talking to the students about the history and defensive structures of Medieval Greece and Dr. Guy Sanders, director of the excavations at Corinth, providing a tour of the ancient site.

      We then returned to Athens and after a day or two, finished all souvenir shopping needed, and then left for home, having been in Greece for three weeks.  You can’t begin to understand a culture until you’ve been to the land itself and seen firsthand the monuments and places studied in class.  All of the students have described this as the trip of a lifetime, having exceeded all of their educational and personal aspirations.  As a department, we believe that these trips form an integral part of a students’ education and more are planned for the future.  Whether it’s Greece or some other land important to the ancient or medieval world (Italy, Turkey, Egypt, France, England, etc.) we will continue to do everything we can to make history come alive.  Stay tuned and keep checking here for updates on the next adventure …  See slide show!