DESIGNED FOR THE GENERAL STUDENT

The program offers a general introduction to the rich legacy of ancient art and archaeological remains in the Aegean world. From Minoan palaces and Classical temples to Byzantine mosaics and Medieval fortresses, these remains testify to a succession of dramatically different cultures, each of which has made a significant contribution to shaping Western civilization. Studying them in an organized fashion in the company of scholars enriches any student's liberal arts education.

Our program provides a foreign study experience with a minimal prerequisite and no language requirement. Since first offered in 1970, it has attracted students from virtually every liberal arts major, including those in the natural sciences. The program satisfies Lake Forest College’s cultural diversity requirement. Further, students can earn credit in a number of departments: Art, Sociology and Anthropology, and History (by arrangement)--as well as Greek Civilizations.

CLASSES HELD AT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND MUSEUMS

Our study of the past emphasizes the sites, the museum collections and the historical terrain. We ponder how the Minoan civilization collapsed as we examine the clues on the island of Santorini and at the palaces on Crete. We study the emergence of democracy in the Athenian Agora where it was instituted. The shaping principle of the program has been to explore the historical and artistic resources which are uniquely accessible in Greece and around the Aegean Sea--not simply to transplant a traditional-type course to a classroom in Greece.

EXTENSIVE TRAVEL

Each course includes some time in Athens, where there are important archaeological remains and museum collections and where Lake Forest College maintains its own library of basic resources. The major portion of each course period, however, is spent in blocks of travel-study away from Athens at important sites on mainland Greece, on the Greek islands and in western Turkey. (The actual schedule in any year is subject to change due, for example, to logistical needs or political conditions.)

TRULY INTERDISCIPLINARY

The content of our program is interdisciplinary by its nature. Students draw upon perspectives and analytical techniques from such fields as history, archaeology, art, literature and cultural anthropology. As a result, credits from the program may be gained in Greek Civilizations or applied to any of three Lake Forest College departments: Art, Sociology & Anthropology or (by arrangement) History.

Since faculty leaders as well as students come from differing disciplines, what emerges is a natural intellectual exploration: a group of persons pooling their various backgrounds to investigate a shared interest.

PARTICIPATION IN THE LOCAL CULTURE

Assisted by the program director, students arrange for their own accommodations while in Athens and for portions of the time elsewhere in Greece. They find their own meals in local restaurants and purchase their own supplies in the shops and markets. Most field trip travel is by public bus, train or ferry, and students make their own travel arrangements wherever that is feasible during the study periods and in blocks of free time between courses.

All this can be done in Greece more easily than in most other foreign countries. English is spoken extensively, and the Greeks are rightly famous for their warm hospitality and their treatment of the stranger as guest. The result is that students can live, to an extent at least, within the culture of modern Greece as they study its past, gaining greater self-confidence and personal perspective.

SMALL-SIZED GROUP

Group size is held to a maximum of 15 students, accompanied throughout the three course periods by a director either drawn from Lake Forest College's full-time faculty or resident in Athens. Resident scholars with expertise in the various periods share teaching responsibilities with the director, and on-site sessions are occasionally accented by meetings with archaeologists engaged in current excavations.

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING ARRANGEMENTS

The on-site program is structured in three sequential 3 1/2 week courses, each carrying 4 semester hours academic credit. Students may enroll for all three, or for the first two.

Greek Civilizations 202: Greece in the Bronze Age: Study of Minoan and Mycenaean cultures, with visits to such sites as Minos’s palace at Knossos and Agamemnon’s citadel at Mycenae.

Greek Civilizations 203: Greece in the Classical to Roman Ages: Study of some of the most important sites in Greek history, such as Delphi, Corinth, Delos, the Athenian acropolis and agora.

Greek Civilizations 204: Greece in the Byzantine to Medieval Ages: Study at major sites of the Byzantine Empire, such as the monuments at Thessaloniki, the monasteries at Meteora, perched on their rocky fingers, and the fortress and monasteries of Mistra.

A 4 credit hour preparatory course is provided on the Lake Forest College campus during the 7 1/2 week first half of spring semester, from mid January to early March: Greek Civilizations 201 “Ancient Greece: Life, Thought, and the Arts" Along with this course, students may arrange an independent study in one of several departments. Students may thereby take two 7 1/2 week courses concurrently during that period on campus for a normal half-semester's load of 8 hours.

A student may satisfy the prerequisite for the program by taking either GK CIV 201 or an acceptable combination of two other courses in both Classical art and in Greek literature or history. Off-campus students who need not complete GK CIV 201 can meet the group in Athens at the start of GK CIV 202. If desired, however, off-campus students can arrange an independent study course at Lake Forest from mid-January to early March.