Visiting this website is the first step on a journey of academic and personal discovery. You will learn about a study abroad program in Greece that is intellectually demanding and offers the opportunity to expand your horizons. The College Year in Athens program provides university-level courses focused on Greece and the East Mediterranean world. At the same time, it specializes in creating a caring learning environment that imparts knowledge by first-hand experience, immediate observation, perception, and enjoyment. Whether you are already immersed in Greek studies and thinking about a career in academia, or seeking to fulfill general education requirements, you will find courses designed to help you achieve your academic goals. You will be able to devise a program of studies that helps you gain both a deeper understanding of this part of the world through the ages, and a new perspective on the global environment.

In view of the fast and often dramatic developments in the world, there is yet another reason—and a very important one—for a college student to spend a semester or a year in Greece at College Year in Athens: living and studying abroad provide growing and maturing experiences to young people, similar to rites of initiation. Seeing the world and the U.S. from the perspective of a geographically small European country located at the meeting point of West and East, with thousands of years of continuous history, is an educational experience of great importance. Our students view their study abroad in Greece as a life-changing experience, one that has increased their awareness and perception in the best possible way. I believe that our mission is best fulfilled when our students, upon leaving our program, become citizens of the world.

I look forward to welcoming you and to guiding you to an understanding of this fascinating area of the world.

Alexis Phylactopoulos
President
College Year in Athens
International Center for Hellenic and Mediterranean Studies