Program Overview: The 2010 Study Abroad Program in Athens, Greece, is a four-week program of study featuring two experienced travelers and teachers who offer both lower and upper-division courses in the humanities coordinated with visits to historical sites, both ancient and modern.  After arriving in Athens, we will be carried by bus to the home institution (College Year in Athens--CYA) for four weeks of class and site visits.  Following a brief orientation, we will be taken to our apartments in the Pangrati area of Athens, right next to the modern Olympic Stadium (1898) and only a ten minute walk from the Acropolis and the Plaka (old Turkish marketplace).  In the evening of our first day in Greece we will celebrate with a taverna dinner!

During our first week of classes in Athens we will visit the Acropolis, the Roman Forum, the New Acropolis Museum, and we will take a full-day bus tour of Attica, the area surrounding Athens.  Our day trip will include the battle and burial site of Marathon, the Marathon Museum, the Temple of Artimis  in Brauron, the beautiful seaside theatre of Thorikos, and finally the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio.  While we are in Athens, we will be provided with lunch during week days but will be on our own for breakfast and dinner.  The lunches are ample, the food quite good.

In the remaining weeks we will have two extended overnight trips: one three-day tour of the Peloponnese to visit Eluesis (ancient fertility cult site), Dafni Monastery, Nemea (site of one of the four Olympic style games),  Mycenae (palace complex of King Agamenon), Epidaurus (famous for its beautiful ancient theatre), Ancient Olympia (home of the original Olympic Games!), and finally on our return to Athens, Corinth.

Another two-day trip will bring us north to the mainland to visit perhaps two of the holiest sites in Greece, Delphi and Meteora!  While touring the Peloponnese and mainland Greece, we will stay in tourist class hotels with double occupancy.  Dinners and breakfast will be included when we are “on the road.”

At the the end of the forth week of class we will have a three-day weekend before our last half week of “wrap up.”  On our last evening in Athens we will have a taverna FEAST with music and dancing.  We return (usually in tears) the following afternoon.

Course One: IDST 2305 Humanities I: The Ancient World. The Cycladic Islands--notably Paros, Mikonos, Delos, and Santorini, the Acropolis of Athens, ancient Olympia, Delphi, Mycenae, Epidaurus, and many more premiere World Heritage Sites form the outdoor classroom for this course in Classical Greek literature, art, architecture, and much more.

Course Two: ART/ENGL/HIST/IDST 4950 Ancient Myth & Meaning. This course allows students to focus on a specific topic of special interest to their major or primary discipline, or to a combination of disciplines.  Ancient Myth & Meaning connects the historical, legendary, and mythological figures of ancient Greece with the sacred sites associated with them.  Walk in the footsteps of such historical figures as Pericles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Paul; legendary heros like Odysseus, Achilles, Agamemnon, Orestes; and gods and goddesses such as Dionysus, Athena, Poseidon, Zeus, and many more.  Study the temples, public monuments, and sanctuaries dedicated to these figures, learn what these sites meant in the 5th C. BCE and what they mean today to millions of travelers.  While there are some common readings that form the groundwork for this course, the main emphasis will be on guided independent studies.

Course Three: ENGL/IDST 4950 Travel Writing (& Photography).   For English Majors at GCSU this course can be used for the Study Abroad Capstone Option.  Students in this course will read and discuss travel writing and also write their own!

About the Professors. Robert Viau, Ph.D., is a Professor of English & Interdisciplinary Studies, in the Department of English, Speech & Journalism at Georgia College & State University.  Pamela Nolte-Viau is an Associate Professor of Humanities and Learning Support at Middle Georgia College.  Together the professors have participated in many study abroad programs in the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, and Turkey.  The Summer 2010 Program in Athens will be their tenth experience either teaching in or directing study abroad programs in Greece.

In 1998 Professors Viau and Nolte-Viau participated in the University System of Georgia Faculty Development Program that performed the original “scouting work” and survey for the Thessaloniki Program the following year.  Rob Viau taught for the first two summers, and then after a break of several years, returned in ’06 and ’07.  Last summer the program originally developed by Dr. Chris Bourdouvalis at Augusta State University passed to Georgia College & State University.

Housing and Meals in Athens. Students will live in apartments within a few blocks of the host institution, College Year in Athens, close to the modern Olympic Stadium and a ten minute walk from the Acropolis.  Lunch will be served on week days, or sack lunches will be provided for day trips.  During overnight excursions from Athens students will have breakfast and dinner.  In addition, the program will begin and end with multi-course taverna meals in Paros and Athens.

Program Host: College Year in Athens. The host site for the 2009 Athens-Paros Program is CYA, or College Year in Athens.  CYA is very highly regarded as one of the premier providers of high quality study abroad experiences for English speaking university students from around the world.  2009 will be our third year hosted by CYA.  For more information on CYA, please check out their website: College Year in Athens.

CYA provides the classrooms, apartments, all on ground/water transportation in Greece, meals, and a wide variety of other administrative services, including security and safety.  While participating in this program you will have free internet access in computer labs provided by CYA and wireless internet in the lounges and classrooms.  The CYA facility also a laundry facility and lunch room, administrative offices for mail pickup and message retrieval, and MUCH more.

Itinerary Links:

1. ✦    The Acropolis, Theatre Dionysus, Ancient Greek Agora, Roman Forum, and the New Acropolis Museum
   

2. ✦    Day Trip to Marathon, Ramnous (Temple of Nemesis), Brauron (Temple of Artemis), Thorikos (Ancient Theatre), and Cape Sounio (Temple of Poseidon)
   

3. ✦    Three-Day Trip into the Peloponnese: Eleusis, Ancient Corinth, Nemea, Napflio, Mycenae, Epidaurus, and Ancient Olympia.  This leg of the trip includes three of the four original sites of Olympic-style games (Olympia, Nemea, Isthmia).  We will stay overnight in Napflio, the beautiful seaside town known for its dazzling castle fortifications and quiet Venetian streets streaming with cascades of flowers; and Olympia in a beautiful modern hotel with a pool and amazing breakfast.
   

4. ✦    Day Trip to Ancient Delphi!
   

5. ✦    Additional trips to museums will include the new Acropolis Museum, the National Archeological Museum, the Cycladic Art Museum, The Benaki (one of the world’s finest private collections of antiquites), The Benaki Islamic Museum, the Byzantine Museum, and others by special student request or by special arrangement.
   

Free Days.  You will have 7 free days for your own exploration, including one three-day weekend for a longer side trip (Santorini?  Turkey?  The isle of Skopolos, where the popular movie Mama Mia was filmed?)

Program Application Process.  Print the Program Application, complete it, obtain the necessary signatures, and then submit the completed application along with your check for your program deposit and two passport style photos.

Course Registration: Before registration period of Spring Semester ’10, Course Sort Numbers (CRNs) will be assigned for the various course offerings described above.  In compliance with new state policies and guidelines, students in study abroad programs must sign up for 6 semester hours.  Most students already do take two courses anyway, which is the best way to get the most study abroad “bang” for your buck.

Non GCSU students must submit a Transient Request Form before registering.  Please note that this form is extremely time sensitive.  You cannot go on this (or any other program) without first signing up for classes, and you can’t sign up for classes without submitting this form on time.  Please, non GCSU students, TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!

HOPE applies to courses taken in study abroad programs.  Otherwise, your tuition is an additional cost.  The Athens-Paros Program Fee pays for the cost of all your trsavle expenses in Greece.  Tuition pays for your courses.

Financial Aid and Scholarships: All GCSU students are eligible to apply for a Weir/Wells Scholarship to support study abroad.  Applications are available in the International Office.  Please consult the following link: International Education Center: Funding for Going Abroad.

Program Fee: $5200 (That’s $100 less than last summer!)  Please note that we are doing everything we can to keep this fee low.  Airfares next year are the big unknown!  That and the Euro-US Dollar Exchange.  If the economy improves, the fee will drop.  No one in the business of managing study abroad in higher education is out to make a profit.  Really, all we want to do is offer very high quality educational experiences in an environment that is SAFE and COMFORTABLE and REWARDING!

Photo Galleries:   

2009 Athens Program (Viau)

Photos from Previous Study Abroad Trips to Greece (Viau)

Travel Warnings & Security Information:

U.S. State Department International Travel Information  This site provides valuable information on safely and security in international travel.  See Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, Country Specific Information, Country Background Notes, etc.

Travel in Greece:

Go Greece

Lonely Planet Greece

Athens Weather

Ancient Greece

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