Study abroad

Students at Union are encouraged to pursue some of their studies abroad, and many Classics students choose to spend the Fall Term of sophomore or junior year in Athens. Union participates in the College Year in Athens program, in which students live in apartments in the city and take classes in the program’s Academic Center. You don’t need to know Greek (either Ancient or Modern) to participate in the Athens term abroad, and language study is available as part of the course offerings. During the Fall Term in Athens, students must take four courses. Most of the courses meet three hours per week, and many include study trips to sites throughout both mainland Greece and the islands. The courses cover Greek art and archaeology in ancient and Byzantine times, Greek language and literature, the history of Greece as well as ancient philosophy.

The department encourages students to apply for a non-Union term for the combined winter and spring terms (spring semester) at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, Italy. Possible classes at ICCS are in ancient history, archaeology, Greek and Latin literature, Italian language, and ancient art. Students take a required two-credit course on the ancient city that includes numerous site visits. Please see the ICCS website for details on the program: ICCS_Rome.

For more information, please contact Professor Stacie Raucci, in the Classics Dept. (rauccis@union.edu).

Non-Union Winter/Spring Program applications are due to Union’s International Programs office no later than close of business on Friday of the third week of Spring term in the year before the proposed program. Click here to apply to a non-Union program.

This program aims at combining a full immersion in Italian culture and the acquisition of basic techniques of archaeological excavation. Students will spend 3 weeks in Populonia (Tuscany, Italy) working full time on the archaeological excavation of the Roman Villa "Poggio del Mulino. " There will also be opportunities for excursions to local sites of cultural interest. The program offers the opportunity of experiencing professional archaeological excavation in Italy. The students will be digging in cooperation with other members of an international team (Italy and the US) and will reside in a typical Italian village with many opportunities for interaction with the local population.

The course on Etruscology led by the Union faculty will be taught early in the morning inside the Etruscan Museum of Populonia, which will be closed to the general public, and offered to the exclusive use of Union College students for the daily duration of the class (practical arrangements with the museum are already in place). The mini-term also comprises various labs, including a ceramic lab, a Roman glass lab, a physical anthropology lab, and sessions devoted to graphic documentation and 3d modeling. All the labs which will take place daily at the excavation site, after the Etruscology component

For More Information

Students may contact Professor Tommaso Gazzarri (gazzarrt@union.edu).

To learn more about the costs, please visit the mini-term costs page.