Philosophy and Art in Greece

Greece | Philosophy and Art

Dates: June 9 – June 30, 2025
Location: Athens, Greece
Cost: $3,600
Included: accommodations, in-country transportation, meals, program events and activities, and study abroad fee
Not Included: airfare
Application deadline: February 15th
Deposit: $575 March 1st (non-refundable)
Final payment deadline: $3,025 with summer tuition and fees deadline
Course information: PHI 269 and INT 301 – 6 Credits

Requirements: In order to attend a Faculty-Led Study Abroad Program, students must have a 2.5 or higher GPA. Questions regarding this policy may be directed to Emily Dunn (dunn_ea@mercer.edu).

Students will live and study in the vibrant city Athens and sleepy village of Ancient Corinth. During our four-day work weeks, we will study the mythology, art, and archaeology of Greece in order to learn who these extraordinary ancient people were, what they valued, and how they made sense of the human condition

Site visits include the Acropolis, Kerameikos, Agora, Cycladic Museum, Aegina, Acropolis Museum, Mycenae, Ancient Corinth, Peloponnesus, Nemea, Delphi, Aristotle’s Lyceum, the National Archeological Museum, and Benaki Museum.

For more information about this program please contact Dr. Charlotte Thomas (thomas_cc@mercer.edu, 478-301-2352) or the Study Abroad Office (studyabroad@mercer.edu, 478-301-5964).

During this one-week program, students will visit:

the Acropolis
Kerameikos
a day trip to Aegina to visit the Temple of Aphaia
Agora
a week over night in Corinth where student will see
- Epidauros
- Ancient Corinth
- Isthmia
- Tyrins and Naupolin
- Mycenae
- Nemea
- Perachora
a day trip to Delphi and Arachova
Acropolis Museum
National Archeological Museum
Marathon

*These activities are subject to change based on availability when booking.

To apply: Please click on the “Apply Now” button in the overview section and fill out all of the information requested.

Application deadline: February 15th
Decision date: February 16th
Deposit: $575 (non-refundable) due by March 1st to hold your place in the program.
Final payment deadline: $3,025 by summer tuition and fees spring deadline

3 credit hours each:

PHI 269– Human Nature and Art in Athens

The aim of this course is for all of us (faculty and students alike) to seek to better understand the human condition by considering the way that it is depicted in the works of art and architecture we will see together in Greece.
Your work will take several forms: reading, sketching, journal writing, discussing, presenting, essay writing, and (most importantly) thinking.
We will visit cultural sites four days a week. We will meet for conversation every morning before class and sometimes for a few minutes after lunch. Each day you will sketch and write journal entries. A few of you will also be responsible for site reports each day.

INT 301– Engaging the World

Repatriation at the Acropolis looks to The Parthenon / Elgin Marbles, and their notable absence at The Acropolis Museum in Athens, as a case study in current debate surrounding repatriation and cultural property. We’ll look at collections, the current news cycle, and archeological ethics through the lenses of looting, nationalism, and colonialism to ask something like “who owns culture and why?”. Cycladic antiquities, Benin Bronzes, Hobby Lobby, and a notable stop by Mercer’s now repatriated tsantsa will enrich our understanding of the issues complicating the debate over where, and to whom, the past belongs.

INT 301 prerequisite: INT 201

*Mercer general education requirements:

Humanities: PHI 269
Integrative Studies: INT 301