Credit: Christoph Clairmont
And here’s yet another RU anniversary worth noting…
This year marks the fifth consecutive time that Rutgers University will run its Summer Program to Greece. This year’s dates are from 6 July to 10 August.
For this five week course, students earn six credits: three in History and three in Classics. Majors in any subject are welcome. Language of instruction is English. You can download a brochure and application here.
In this undergraduate travel program students spend about half the time in Athens, with expert guided tours of the National Archaeological Museum, the Agora Museum, the Byzantine Museum, and the Benaki.
The other half of the course takes place outside Athens—Crete, the Peloponnese, and northern Greece (including Delphi, Thessaloniki, and the monastery at Meteora).
While in Athens participants stay in and use facilities provided by College Year in Athens (shared rooms with kitchens). Outside of Athens the lodgings are carefully selected hotels, with the occasional overnight ferry.
You will have three experienced professors guiding you throughout the course, whose specialties range from ancient Greek through Byzantine history. Directing the Program is Professor Gary Farney, from Rutgers University-Newark, who runs its Program in Ancient and Medieval Civilizations, and has been with the RU Greece program in each of its five years. Also returning is Professor Dylan Bloy, Gettysburg College, a specialist in Greek and Roman interactions, with extensive archaeological field experience in mainland Greece and Crete. And rounding out the triumvirate is Professor Stephen Reinert, an expert in Byzantine history, who is no less that the Dean of the Rutgers Study Abroad Program.
From the Facebook group for participants on the 2008 RU Greece program
But wait…there’s more!“You’ll be introduced to Greece’s major historic sites,” says the Program’s official site, “and key monuments of art, architecture, and archaeology, spending much of your class time “in the field” and inside museums. You’ll explore the full spectrum of Greece’s material culture and history, from archaic through classical to Byzantine and early Ottoman periods. In the process, you’ll strengthen your skills in analyzing and interpreting material culture, and addressing challenges of historical reconstruction and presentation.”
And “unlike other summer courses based in a single location, you’ll be itinerant — students on the move, notebooks in hand—from site to site, museum to museum, with stops here and there so you can enjoy the beaches, and relax by night in the local tavernas. En route you’ll experience the full spectrum of Greek life, from tiny mountain villages in the Peloponnese (which seem hardly changed since Ottoman times), to the hustle and bustle of Athens, with its brand new subway and exciting night spots like “The Plaka” and “Kolonaki.” You’ll even get to know some of the islands, and thus get a feel for sailing through the Aegean.”
An estimate of the costs this coming year is ca. $5000 for New Jersey residents and $6000 for out-of-state residents. This figure does not include food costs in Greece or airfare to and from Greece. Still, the program was rated as one of the most affordable by Let’s Go Greece on a Budget 2008.
For more information, you can email Professor Gary Farney. The recommended application deadline is 1 April.
Greece Summer 2008 with Professors Dylan Bloy and Gary Farney. Credit: Deanna Shea’10
rutgersclassics.com 