Program Search
Winter 2026
Dates: December 29, 2025 - January 16, 2026
Application Deadline: September 1, 2025
Costs: Contact the program sponsor for updated cost
IAU’s Mediterranean Basin January Term Traveling Seminar is designed for students interested in an academic and cultural experience in France, Italy, and Greece. Students build visual literacy in the history of art and archaeology as well as examine philosophical literature of the Mediterranean Basin from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. The seminar cultivates students' abilities to synthesize cultural, historical, political, and social information as it relates to the visual arts. The experiential learning component consists of a series of site visits made by academic experts from IAU in addition to local guides and faculty in the field of history, art history, and archaeology.
Sites visited:
France: Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Glanum, and Nimes
Italy: Rome, Pompei, and Paestum
Greece: Athens, Cape Sounion, Mycenia, and Delphi
*View day by day itinerary here!
View this short video clip to get a sense of this winter intersession traveling seminar!
College of Staten Island, CUNY
Gonzalo Villena
ELI Director
Questions? Contact me
studyab@csi.cuny.edu
Tel:(718) 982-2100
This program is sponsored and administered by the College of Staten Island.
Students can choose one of the following courses:
About the Professors:
Dr. Guillaume Durand has been a professor of archaeology and art history at IAU since 2002, Assistant Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences since 2014, and leads a January Term Traveling Seminar on Mediterranean Civilizations. Prof. Durand completed a Masters of Art History and Archaeology on Byzantine Studies and a Ph.D. in Romanian History at the Université de Provence. In 2014 he completed a three-year post-doctorate program funded by the European Union and under the aegis of the Romanian Academy (Bucharest) and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris). He has published two books and several articles in French academic reviews (Cahier des Etudes Romanes, Turcica) and in Romania (Historical Yearbook, Annals of the Spiru Haret University). Professor Durand participates regularly in international conferences in France and throughout Europe and maintains active involvement and oversight of local, regional, and national archaeological excavations. He speaks French, English, Romanian, and Greek.
R. Bruce Hitchner is Professor of Classics and International Relation and Director of the Archaeology program at Tufts University. He has directed major archaeological projects in France and Tunisia funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Geographic Society, and is the former Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Archaeology. Professor Hitchner has published extensively on the archaeology and History of the Roman Empire and has been Visiting Fellow at Oxford, Cambridge, Copenhagen,and Princeton. He teaches Greek and Roman History and Archaeology at Tufts.
IAU’s J-Term Traveling Seminars are unique in that the classroom and campus changes based on the location of the program. The J-Terms consist of 17-21 day academic and cultural courses led by IAU faculty and include 24/7 staff support. The seminars are thematic in nature and involve travel through multiple countries. During the program, students have access to a variety of spaces including partner institutions, hotel conference rooms, lecture halls, and museums in which to conduct coursework and lectures. Students are housed in hotels or residence halls in each city. Breakfast is included.
Winter 2026
Dates: December 29, 2025 - January 16, 2026
Application Deadline: September 1, 2025
Costs: Contact the program sponsor for updated cost
Costs included: tuition (3 credits), hotel accommodations, medical insurance, entrance fees to all museums and guest lecture venues, Intra-European transportation, daily breakfasts and some dinners.
Costs not included: airfare, personal expenses, some meals
Students who enroll in a January Term Seminar and the spring semester in Aix-en-Provence consecutively are eligible to receive a $2,000 grant credited to their spring semester invoice. In order to be eligible to receive the grant, students must participate in the Early Start Program during the week between the end of the January Term Seminar and the start of the spring semester. The Early Start Program allows students to move in with their French hosts a week before the semester begins, receive French language instruction, and participate in local cultural activities! Visit IAU's Scholarship website for additional details.
Application Deadline: October 1
Eligibility Requirements:
Minimum GPA: 2.5
Once applicants apply through CCIS and get accepted, all applicants are required to complete IAU's online application.
Students are also responsible for submitting the following application materials to IAU once accepted:
Once an application is complete, students can expect a response within 2 weeks. Admission is granted on a rolling basis before the application deadlines outlined below. For questions about an application, please contact enroll@iaufrance.org.
“My experience going abroad through IAU has been nothing shy of extraordinary. I went into it not knowing any of my classmates, but the professors immediately made us all feel welcome. We soon began traveling in a foreign country and with every new excursion we all became such close travel companions. Being in that type of environment forces you to step outside of your comfort zone and open yourself up to new cultures and experiences. Having been a part of this program has not only benefited my knowledge of the world, but created unique memories with people I wouldn't have otherwise met, that I will forever cherish. If you're looking for personal growth with a side of adventure, IAU abroad is your next step.”
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