Study Abroad Programs

Wellesley College offers a variety of Study Abroad programs to enhance a student's  educational and cultural experience while helping to fulfill the Classical Studies major. The main programs are in Rome and in Greece, offering students the opportunity to study the architecture, society, and language of Ancient Greece and Rome. Abroad opportunities are available for a semester or entire year.

College Year in Athens

The Greek program, founded by Wellesley College graduate Ismene Phylactopoulou, is known as the College Year in Athens program. It was established in 1962 starting with only four students, and today there are close to 200 colleges which participate in the CYA and over 40 courses taught by a faculty of almost thirty members.

ICCS in Rome

The Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome (ICCS) was established in 1965 by representatives of ten American colleges and universities; the number of member institutions has now grown to over 100. It provides undergraduate students with an opportunity in Rome to study ancient history and archeology, Greek and Latin literature, and ancient art. ICCS has received generous aid from the Danforth Foundation, The Old Dominion Foundation, The Mellon Foundation, and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, as well as the continuing support of a consortium of colleges and universities, and contributions from former students.

A Student Perspective About Her Experience Abroad

Margot

"I loved the broad expanse of Greece, how literally the horizon just stretches out there dusty and great, all that sky between the sea and the rocks and the people. All the shores [in Greece] are really just a merging of rock and sea, with just the thinnest strip of sand; everywhere I went, I kept remembering the landscapes of Odysseus and thinking, 'that's here!'

There's just so much space to sprawl out and think...

I think something people should be aware of when they go is that Greece is not a traditionally European nation like Italy or France, where cultural institutions stretch back through the enlightenment and the renaissance. Greece was a goat-herding backwater for all that, and they have definitely scrambled in the past hundred years to become not just European but the most European - it was startling at first, when I realized how strung-together and tenuous the connections between modern and ancient Greece are, and also how important. It’s good to just be able to fall into the rhythm of a different life."