Classics majors at Smith College are in the unusual position of being required to study two unrelated foreign languages (Latin and Ancient Greek). Because of this, the Department of Classical Languages and Literatures encourages students to explore English-language study abroad options, with some programs offering an opportunity take Modern Greek or Italian language classes in addition to their English-language coursework.
About half of Smith’s classics majors study abroad, and it is not uncommon for students to travel to the United Kingdom, Greece, or Rome. Like Smith’s major, Classics programs at British universities focus mainly on literature and language. Studying at the College Year in Athens or Rome’s Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies, however, gives students a deeper sense of a physical place—monuments, landscape, even food. Scott Bradbury, the department’s advisor for study abroad, describes it as “sights, smells, and sounds” of the major.
Smith was among the founders of Rome’s Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in the 1960s. This heavily archaeological program is similar to “boot camp for American classics majors” because apart from archaeology, it offers courses exclusively in intermediate or advanced Latin or Greek, Italian lessons, and some Baroque art courses. The College Year in Athens program also focuses in large part on archaeology; some classes never meet indoors but instead travel to numerous sites in or near the city. Students in this program focus on Greek studies and are encouraged to take Modern Greek.
Classics and classical studies offer exciting study abroad opportunities; although the civilizations and artifacts to study may be thousands of years old, the modern cultures that exist in the same places offer an exciting glimpse of the connection between ancient and modern civilizations. All three of the destinations – the UK, Greece, and Italy – allow students a chance to meet and work with numerous other majors who share their interests.
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