Study Abroad

With the assistance of the Office of International Education, more than 50% of all Willamette students go abroad for part of their studies, usually during their Junior year.

Among the programs offered by the Office of International Education, the programs in Athens, Rome, Catania (Sicily), London, Galway (Ireland), Perth (Australia), and Munich (Germany) are of particular interest for Classics students.

Classical Studies majors only may apply to spend a semester at the prestigious American School of Classical Studies in Athens (ASCSA) and at the equally competitive Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies (ICCS) programs in Rome and in Catania, Sicily. Another option to study in Greece is the American Heritage Association’s (AHA) Greece Center in Athens. In addition, we have had one recent Classics major study in Athens with the College Year in Athens program and another one in Rome at John Cabot University.

Other semester-long programs include London, Galway, Perth, and Munich. London offers not only the British Museum, but also rich Roman remains and the chance to attend lectures and events offered, for example, by one of several Classics departments at London universities, such as King's College London. The University of Western Australia in Perth (Australia) has a strong Classics Department with internationally renowned faculty. During a Spring semester at the National University of Ireland in Galway, students could enjoy not only Ireland's beautiful countryside but also take their pick among many interesting courses offered by the Galway Classics Department. For students with a background in German, a year in Munich could be a very attractive option. Munich is not only a Celtic-Roman city, it also houses world-class collections of ancient art (Staatliche Antikensammlungen and Glyptothek). A center of Classical studies in Germany with excellent departments of Classics, Ancient History, and Archaeology, Munich is the home of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, the ultimate dictionary of the Latin language.

For students who only want to spend a summer abroad, there are several exciting summer programs:

First of all, there is the popular "Willamette in Greece" post-session (see below).

Secondly, many Willamette students participate in archaeological excavations and field schools during the summer. In recent years, three Willamette students have participated in the excavations of the Athenian Agora, the ancient marketplace of Athens, run by the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. Another student excavated a Roman-era town named Troia in Portugal; many more have accompanied our three archaeologists, Professors Scott Pike, David McCreery, and Ann Nicgorsky, to excavations in Italy, Jordan, and on Crete. Willamette University's Center of Ancient Studies and Archaeology supports two students per year with generous grants to attend archaeological field schools abroad.

Finally, outstanding Classics majors may also apply for a Lionel Pearson Fellowship awarded by the American Philological Association to spend a year of post-baccalaureate studies in Classics at a British university of the student's choice.

Willamette in Greece

(or, in Cataloguese, IDS 351* (W) Culture of Ancient Greece)

This writing-centered post-session course, open to non-Classics Majors as well, is a 4-week postsession program that centers on a field study in the museums and important historical/cultural sites throughout the mainland of Greece and the Mediterranean islands of Aegina and Crete. The one-credit course explores the origins of Western rhetoric through the exploration of archaeological ruins, the readings of Pericles, Lysias, and Isocrates, and the visualization of changes in Greek art, architecture, and lifestyle. For further information, please see the Willamette in Greece website or contact Prof. Jeanne Clark or Prof. Catherine Collins .