Greece to offer ‘first English-taught undergraduate course’

Greece has become the latest European country to offer an undergraduate degree in English at its public universities.

From September, students at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens will be able to take a four-year honours degree in the archaeology, history and literature of ancient Greece taught entirely in English.

It is the first time that a public university in Greece has offered an undergraduate degree in English, according to Ekathimerini.com.

The degree is being offered in association with the International Hellenic University in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, which currently offers master’s degrees in English.

The course, which is targeted at international students, will cost €8,000 (£7,032) a year.

“Archaeology and Greek culture is the most important scientific field where we need an English-language programme addressed to foreign students,” said Thanos Dimopoulos, rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, who said that the new curriculum would include seminars, educational activities and field trips to archaeological sites and other locations of interest, as well as student participation in excavations.

Eleni Karamalengou, dean of Athens’ School of Philosophy, described the new programme as a “very important and innovative educational, scientific and cultural initiative for this country”.

Undergraduate degrees taught in English are currently common in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, as well as the Netherlands, where more than 100 anglophone undergraduate courses are on offer, according to course finder StudyPortals.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com