College Year in Athens: Past Review
By Clark W (Classical Philology, Pacific Lutheran University) for
CYA (College Year in Athens) - Semester/Academic Year Program
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
There were two classes I took that were excellent, whereas the other two I took were not satisfactory. One caveat is that I took no archaeological courses, which seems to be the program's mainstay, so my experience wasn't typical for a CYA student. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Although I had a mixed experience with the courses, the administration otherwise was extremely helpful. The faculty members were very kind and approachable to students, and patiently heard and answered our questions. Nadia Meliniotis in particular always had a perfect solution for whatever problem or concern I had, many of which pertained to my type-1 diabetes, and drastically improved what my experience there would have been otherwise. I can find nothing bad to say about the faculty at CYA. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived in Pangrati. The neighborhood was not aesthetically pleasing, but it was a safe place to live in, close to restaurants, grocery stores, bars and the like. The apartment I lived in was suitable. It was not spectacular but I found little to complain about. Since I lived with other American students, however, my Greek didn't really improve because of my housing situation. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The two field trips we took, to Crete and the Peloponnese, were fantastic. CYA consistently notified students about various upcoming events, and helped answer any and all questions on how to explore and enjoy Greece. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
The difficulty with studying Modern Greek in Athens is that most Athenians are more proficient in English than you will be in Greek. However, trying to talk in Greek will be greatly appreciated by the Greeks. Towns outside of Athens have fewer English speakers, so weekend trips to places like Meteora will help improve a student's Greek. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Advanced Latin |
| Course Department: | C311 |
| Instructor: | John Raish |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This was a challenging course, as we read the Cena Trimalchionis by Petronius in Latin, and it was as rewarding as it was challenging. Professor Raish was very helpful and sociable, and my Latin improved considerably. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
A History of Byzantium: The Eastern Roman Empire and its Lasting Legacy |
| Course Department: | H459 |
| Instructor: | Andrea Nanetti |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Great course. I learned a great deal about the Byzantine Empire, and was shown how to do original research with primary source documents found in Athenian libraries. This course is not overwhelming for a History major, though it expected good work. Professor Nanetti was a truly calm, kind man. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Accelerated Modern Greek |
| Course Department: | M101 |
| Instructor: | Marinetta Papahimona |
| Instruction Language: | English/Greek |
| Comments: | I left the course with mixed feelings. I did not feel that the grammar was adequately taught in class. I can honestly say that I feel that I gained more from consulting my "Teach Yourself Greek" and "Spoken World: Greek" programs, and then trying to socialize with the natives. The textbook was very much wanting. On the plus side, the class itself was enjoyable, and the professor, Papahimona, made it lively with her lovable exuberance. I took an Accelerated course, because I had taken a year of Attic Greek. In retrospect, I should have taken the regularly-paced course. I had no experience with modern language classes, having taken only Attic Greek and Latin prior, and other students who had only taken those languages also seemed to share my problems with the course. The students who had previous experience with spoken languages, like German and Italian, seemed to do fine. My advice would be to not take Accelerated Modern Greek, unless one is willing to bring his or her own textbook to complement the "Ellenika Tora" we were assigned in class, and has had previous experience with Spoken Languages on a college level. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Ancient Greek: Attic Prose |
| Course Department: | C201 |
| Instructor: | Demetrios Kritsotakis |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Professor Kritsotakis was undoubtedly skilled in Ancient Greek. However, his teaching method was very poor. We were assigned an Ancient Greek text, and then expected to translate it. That itself is not bad, but the professor gave very little instruction in class on how to improve our language skills. He did not assign a Greek-English lexicon, and expected far more to be translated in a 201 course than any student who had taken Latin 201 had translated at their home universities. Students regularly received poor grades, regardless of their ability, simply because the course was inadequately taught. The professor's method was befitting a 300 level course, not a 200 level one. In total, I would only recommend this course, when taught by Kritsotakis, if a student absolutely must take Greek 201 in that semester to graduate on time. However, if the course were taught by Raish, or if the student was going to take a 300 level course with Kritsotakis, I believe that the student should not worry. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
