Greece - Study “The Great Books” and Poetry Workshop

Location: Athens and Lesvos, Greece

Dates: July 1 - 24, 2025. Students should NOT purchase flights until receiving instruction from our office to do so.

Credits Offered: 3-6 credits. Students may take one or both of the following courses:

• ENGL 31400 or 31600: Workshop in Poetry (3 credits)
• ENGL 303/75956 or COMPL 320 or CLA 306: Western Literary Backgrounds: Transformative Texts (3 credits)

Application Deadline: March 14, 2025.

Program Fee: $2,400 (estimate) includes housing (single or double occupancy in student residence in Lesvos, hotel in Athens), ferry transportation between Athens and Lesvos, cultural events, and international health and travel insurance. Tuition and airfare are not included in the program fee. All students are responsible for arriving at their study abroad location by the first day of the program; this may mean flying the day before. The program fee will be confirmed in Spring 2025 and communicated to all accepted students.

Tuition and airfare are not included in the program fee.

Travel: Students are responsible for arriving at their study abroad location by the first day of the program; this may mean flying the day before.

Payment Schedule: $350 deposit will be due on or before March 14, 2025. Do not submit your deposit until you have applied and been officially accepted to the program! You will receive an acceptance email from our office to confirm next steps.

Program fee balance: $2,050, (program fee balance; estimate) is due on or before March 28, 2025. Payments must be made with certified check or money order. No cash, personal checks, or credit cards. Payments should be made at the Office of Education Abroad during office hours.

Students are responsible for meeting the payment deadline regardless of funding source: eg. Macaulay Opportunities Fund, scholarships, loans, or any other type of financial aid. Late fees will be applied to all delayed payments.

Financial Aid: Please be sure to meet with the Financial Aid Office to discuss your particular financial aid package.

Scholarships: In addition to the Gilman Scholarship,* students should visit our Scholarships Page for more opportunities. Students interested in applying for the Gilman scholarship should email Stephen Lassonde at ops@hunter.cuny.edu.

Spend a summer on the Greek island of Lesvos, studying “The Great Books” from the ancient world and writing poetry! This three-and-a-half-week program will explore how the Aegean landscape was vital to the world’s most influential and enduring literary works, including the lyric poetry of Sappho, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and Euripides’ Bacchae. In the Poetry Workshop course, students will discuss the lyric’s enduring influence on contemporary poetry and produce their own creative writing, inspired by the history of the lyric, as well as the island’s beautiful setting.

Students may take one or both courses. Each course is worth 3 credits. The program will include several days in Athens, Greece; cultural excursions to the Acropolis, the Acropolis Museum, and National Archeological Museum; poetry readings and guest lectures; and many opportunities to explore and be inspired by the local landscape and nature on the magical island of Lesvos, Greece. Other site visits and local activities will be organized in Lesvos.

Housing: Students will be housed in hotels in Athens and in beachside housing on Lesvos. Breakfast is included; students will be responsible for lunch and dinner. The program will host two group dinners at the beginning and end of the program.

Prerequisites: For both courses, ENGL 220 is a required pre-requisite. For the poetry workshop, it is recommended that you have completed Introduction to Creative Writing and/or Workshop in Poetry.

Syllabi:

• ENGL 303/75956/ COMPL 320/ CLA 306: Western Literary Backgrounds: Transformative Texts (3 credits)

ENGL 314/316 syllabus will be updated in early Spring 2025. 

Credits & Grades: Students in this program will receive both course credit and letter grades. Grades will count toward their Hunter GPA.