ancient ship

Study Abroad

The Department of Ancient Greek & Roman Studies encourages our majors to take advantage of all the educational opportunities available to them, including the Berkeley Study Abroad program. You can gain valuable experience by living abroad, and achieve a broader perspective on ancient Greek and Roman literature, history, and culture by studying this material in a new context. There are options for studying Ancient Greek and Roman antiquity across the globe.

Since many students want to study abroad but are concerned about fulfilling their major requirements, we have compiled a list of pre-approved classes, that is, classes from many campuses that are pre-approved as substitutes for specific classes in our curriculum. If you want to study at a campus that is not on this list, or want to take a different course at one of these campuses, please contact us and we may be able to approve it in advance. Cassandra Dunn (cassandrajj@berkeley.edu) and the faculty advisers for undergraduates are available to answer questions and to help you plan your course of study.

Please note that applications for academic-year programs are due in late October for study in the following academic year. You should begin to make plans the preceding spring—that is, about 16 months before you anticipate going abroad.

University of California Education Abroad Program (EAP): Berkeley participates fully in the UC Education Abroad Program. Interested students can take classes—including many that fulfill our major requirements—at many different institutions abroad; more information is available here. For the EAP website specific to Berkeley's programs, see UC Berkeley Study Abroad Program.

In addition, there are three non-EAP programs, two in Athens and one in Rome:

Costs. The UC Education Abroad Program plans its centers so that a Berkeley student can study abroad for about the same cost (tuition, fees, housing) that it would cost to remain at Berkeley. This estimate does not, of course, include additional expenses such as travel to and from the center, and other travel while abroad.

On the other hand, study in any other program can cost more than study in Berkeley. For example, the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, the premier study abroad opportunity for classics students, costs about twice what it costs to attend Berkeley, because it is a consortium based upon private colleges and universities, with the higher tuition costs that entails. But not all private programs are so expensive. For example, the College Year in Athens, because of the lower cost-of-living in Greece, actually costs the same or less than a semester at Berkeley.

DAGRS Study Abroad Scholarship (DSAS). The Department of Ancient Greek & Roman Studies offers a scholarship to our students to study the Ancient Mediterranean world abroad. The Department has two grant programs available each year to help DAGRS students with the cost of studying abroad.

  • Study in an EAP center. A grant is available to provide $1500 for travel in countries and areas relevant to Greek and Roman antiquity abroad (if the center is near those areas).
  • Study in a non-EAP center. Such a center must be in a country or area relevant to Ancient Greek and Roman studies (usually, but not necessarily, restricted to Italy and Greece). A grant is available to pay for the difference between tuition and housing of the nearest equivalent EAP center if the private center costs more. A grant is also available to provide $1500 for travel in AGRS-relevant lands abroad, even if the study center is not located there.

In any given year, as many grants will be given out as resources allow. All questions about financial aid and all applications should be directed to the AGRS Faculty Undergraduate Advisers. Applications for fall are due the first week of April. Applications for spring are due the first week of November.

American Academy in Rome: Summer Program in Archaeology

American School of Classical Studies: Summer Session

The Nemea Center for Classical Archaeology and the Department of AGRS now sponsor two archaeological field school programs through UC Berkeley Summer Sessions, one in Nemea and one in Mycenae, both led by Nemea Center Director Kim Shelton. For more information click here.

Other opportunities for archaeological fieldwork are posted here: http://www.archaeological.org/ (click on the fieldwork link)

Summer Travel Awards

Applications and information for summer travel awards are sent to the DAGRS UG Emal List (sign up) in early spring.

  • J. K. Anderson Travel Award: An award of at least $1500 to support an undergraduate in summer study and/or travel in classical lands, with preference given to undergraduate students of Ancient Greece and Roman Studies (AGRS) and to attendance at summer programs offered by the American School of Classical Studies: Summer Session and the American Academy in Rome: Summer Program in Archaeology. The term "students of AGRS" is meant to include not only declared majors but also Greek, Latin, or Ancient Greek & Roman Studies students who have not (or have not yet) declared a major in one of those fields.
  • The Dimitrios Vlahos Travel Award: This award supports summer study in Greece for an undergraduate student enrolled in the Department of Ancient Greek & Roman Studies (DAGRS) in the College of Letters and Science.
  • DAGRS Summer Study Abroad Award (DSSAA): This grant supports students pursuing some aspect of Ancient Greek and Roman studies abroad during the summer. This could be travel, study, excavation, or a combination of these activities. The award is restricted to declared majors in the Department.