Harvard Summer School

Greece

Olympia-Nafplio

June 29 - July 31, 2009

One full scholarship ($7,000) is available this year to a student from St John's College, Cambridge

The 2009 Study Abroad Program in Greece is one of the longest-running and most successful Harvard study-abroad programs. The five-week program is divided between the ancient site of Olympia and the picturesque seaside town of Nafplion ( Greece's first capital). Greece is an ideal location for a summer program. Traces of its ancient history and culture can be found everywhere, but it has also been an important meeting point between East and West across the centuries. The beautiful climate and landscape are additional sources of inspiration; Olympia, as birthplace of the Olympic Games, is a symbolic reminder of the ideals of peace and international cooperation and a unique location for the study of cross-cultural contact.

Eight interrelated week-long seminars offer a stimulating approach to cultural exchange, with an emphasis on Greece and the Mediterranean. The program's richness is due to its interdisciplinary nature and the diversity of its faculty and students. The different seminars combine linguistic, literary, and historical methodologies, while several faculty members from different fields attend each class, making it a real laboratory for comparative and collaborative thinking. Our discussions often continue informally over dinner under the olive trees. In the past seven years students have come from as far afield as the United States, England, France, Bulgaria, Greece, Guatemala, Turkey, China, and the Philippines.

Weekend excursions take us to some of the country's most important ancient, medieval, and contemporary sites: Athens, Olympia, Delphi, Mystra, Monemvasia. A rich program of guest lectures, and dramatic performances at the ancient theater of Epidaurus, complete the curriculum. Weekly trips to the beautiful beaches of the western Peloponnese enable us to enjoy the natural landscape and appreciate its fragility. Whether you are a student of the classics or modern literature, a historian or a scientist, this program will offer you unique insight into the history and representations of cultural interaction between East and West from antiquity to the present day.

The deadline for applications is January 30. (Please note that this deadline is earlier than the Harvard Summer School deadline of February 27.) Scholarship applicants must submit (1) a CV, (2) statement explaining their interest in this program and how it fits in with their academic or other activities and (3) a transcript of grades. Applications should be emailed (Word, RTF or PDF files) to Teresa Wu, Department of Classics, Harvard University at: summergreece@chs.harvard.edu

Alternatively, candidates can fax application material, clearly marked: Attention Teresa Wu, for the Harvard Olympia-Nafplion program, to: +1 617 496 6720.

The scholarship covers tuition, room, breakfast and dinner. Scholarship recipients will also need to submit an application (and application fee of $50) to the Harvard Summer School, and are responsible for travel to the program and medical insurance. They will also need a small budget to cover lunch and personal incidentals.

To find out more, please visit: http://www.summer.harvard.edu/programs/study-abroad/greece

For more information, please contact Dr Yota Batsaki .

HARVARD SUMMER PROGRAM IN GREECE -STUDENT COMMENTS

(2002-2008)

I wanted to write and thank all of you for the wonderful experience that was the 2004 Harvard Summer Program in Olympia. Each of you were responsible for making some amazing material come alive every week and for letting us - such a motley crew of people - really have a coherent identity about ourselves and about the stuff we were learning about. I believe I echo a unanimous sentiment when I say that each of us took away something from Olympia that was unique and intensely personal and enriching, be it an appreciation for the classics or Greek sculpture and poetry, a better understanding of the Balkans or of the imperial and urban encounter, or just a compendium of Greek swear words, pet rocks, sand, and Mediterranean salt. Congratulations to all of you for organizing a fun and highly educational program. It was fabulous.

"This summer in Greece was an amazing, truly enriching experience for all of us! In me, it inspired a whole new horizon of thoughts on my own subject, the Classics, but also on a huge range of other issues, such as the Ottoman and Byzantine Empires, modern imperialism, and Mediterranean mentality. Most of all, though, I learned about this wonderful, richly historical country, Greece, and built up a really personal connection to it. The many wonderful individuals I got to meet and know really well in the course of the program - such as my fantastic Greek room-mate - left a lasting impression on me too, and I will certainly keep cherishing the many memories we share. I know I will look back to this summer in Greece countless times with joy and infinite gratitude. Thank you so much to the faculty and organizers for allowing me to take part in this wonderful program!

Thank you for making this an experience of a lifetime.