Summer Seminars
The Summer Seminars of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens are 18-day programs that focus on specific cultural themes, historical periods, or geographical regions. The Seminars are led by exceptional scholars of Classics and related fields. Under their direction, participants study texts, visit archaeological sites and museums, and engage with expert guest speakers in order to deepen their understanding of Greece’s landscape, history, literature, and material culture.
Seminar I: People and Places of Ancient Philosophy (June 9 to June 27, 2025)
The origins and development of ancient philosophy are intertwined with the history, topography, and material culture of democratic Athens in the classical and Hellenistic periods. This seminar will resituate the “ancient philosophers” and their intellectual traditions in the physical world from which they hail: democratic Athens of the classical and Hellenistic periods. Socrates and Plato, Aristotle and Theophrastus, Epicurus and Zeno, Antisthenes and Diogenes (among others) are best considered on site and in context. This seminar will explore these philosophers and their legacy in light of the various settings which shaped their thinking and appear in their works.
The program will spend approximately half the seminar in Athens. While in Athens, many of its canonical sites will be visited, including the Acropolis and Agora, the Theater of Dionyos and the Kerameikos Cemetery, and the port of Piraeus. Participants will also explore its world-famous archaeological collections, including those of the Acropolis and Agora, the National Archaeological Museum and the Epigraphical Museum. The other half of the time, participants will (like good philosophers!) be in motion, traveling in a counterclockwise circle around the Corinthian Gulf and Peloponnese before ending up back in Athens and the School. Highlights of the road trip include: Elefsina; the Thebes Museum; Delphi (site and museum); ancient Olympia (site and museum); Palace of Nestor; Mystra and Sparti/Sparta; Mycenae; Nafplio; ancient Corinth (site and museum). In time-honored American School tradition, the journey will be punctuated with the occasional swim stop. This course will be taught by Professor Geoff Bakewell (Rhodes College).
Seminar II: Settlers and Traders: Corinth and Its Apoikiai in W. Greece and S. Albania (July 3 to July 21, 2025)
This 2025 ASCSA Summer Seminar will explore and interrogate the history and topography of the city of Corinth and its “colonies” (apoikiai) in western Greece, including the islands of Leucas and Corcyra, and Apollonia and Epidamnus in Albania. Activities will encourage participants to develop skills of observation and analysis, of both the landscape and our sources. Each participant will present an oral site report on a topic related to the seminar after consultation with the leaders. Participants will be encouraged to investigate and question the traditional narrative of ancient Greek expansion in the Archaic period by considering its presence in the landscape.
The program will spend part of the initial time in Athens introducing the topic of Greek “colonization,” its historiography, and debate over use of the term. During the seminar, there will be opportunities on site and at museums to discuss these topics as they connect with the specific sites of the day. The seminar is organized in two phases. The first part of the seminar exposes participants to the site and extensive history of Corinth and the Corinthia, with particular focus on the archaeologically recovered remains and material culture. The second and longer phase of the seminar will be an exploration of the accessible Corinthian colonies on the Greek mainland (e.g., Alyzia, Sollion, Anactorion, Actium, Nicopolis, and the islands of Leucas and Corcyra) before the group crosses the border to Albania to visit Apollonia and Epidamnus, among others, in order not just to connect these sites but to also consider why these settlement sites were chosen and their association with their founding city. The program will return to Greece to visit other colonies and important adjacent regional sites including Dodona, Ambracia, Amphilochia, and Delphi before concluding in Athens. The seminar will draw upon a wide array of guest speakers to ensure participants are exposed not only to the sites but to the many people who excavate and study them. It will be taught by Professors Georgia Tsouvala (Illinois State University) and Lee L. Brice (Illinois Wesleyan University).
For more information on both summer programs, visit here.
