Educational Travel Programs
Calder Classics has been running successful educational programs in France, Greece, and Italy since 2012. Our trips for high school students combine high-level instruction with a guided exploration of local art and ancient history to create an indelible educational experience.
Travel Programs Offered in 2024
Spring Break in Rome: March 16-22, 2024
Calder Classics offers a unique learning experience in Rome, Italy designed for high school students to advance their expertise in reading Latin. We make the Classics come alive through the interplay of literature, art, ancient and modern history, and travel. Motivated students in 9th through 12th grades are invited to join us in Rome during Spring Break for a one-week program in which the Classics come alive through the study of Latin, exploration of archaeological and modern sites, and immersion in daily Italian life. Based in a beautiful apartment within walking distance from the Circus Maximus, the Forum, the Palatine, and the Colosseum, language, art, and scholarship merge fluently in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom and interdisciplinary exchange. Our days consist of reviewing Latin grammar and reading the great authors of Latin literature along with exploring the historical and cultural treasures of Rome. The evenings feature Italy’s many leisure and culinary offerings.
Reading Latin & Discovering Ancient History in Rome: July 4-14, 2024
Calder Classics invites students entering 10th through 12th grades to join us in Rome in the summer of 2024. During this ten-day program, the Classics come alive through the study of Latin, exploration of ancient sites, and immersion in daily Italian life. We spend our time together in a beautiful apartment in the San Saba neighborhood. Language, art, and scholarship merge fluently in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom and interdisciplinary exchange. Our days consist of reviewing Latin grammar, reading the great authors of Latin literature, and exploring the historical and cultural treasures of Rome. The evenings feature Italy’s many leisure and culinary offerings.
Reading Latin & Discovering Ancient History in Rome 2: July 13-23, 2024
Calder Classics invites students entering 10th through 12th grades to join us in Rome in the summer of 2024 for this second offering of the Rome: Reading Latin + Ancient History curriculum. During this ten-day program, the Classics come alive through the study of Latin, exploration of ancient sites, and immersion in daily Italian life. We spend our time together in an apartment in the Via Volturno neighborhood. Language, art, and scholarship merge fluently in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom and interdisciplinary exchange. Our days consist of reviewing Latin grammar, reading the great authors of Latin literature, and exploring the historical and cultural treasures of Rome. The evenings feature Italy’s many leisure and culinary offerings.
Reading Latin + Creative Writing in Florence: July 14-24, 2024
Calder Classics invites students entering 10th through 12th grades to join us in Florence in the summer of 2024. In this unique course, dedicated students read ancient texts in Latin, read and discuss modern adaptations of classical stories, and visit masterpieces of local art each day. Participants are then invited to respond in writing to what they have read and seen. Over this ten-day program, the myths and legends of the classical world come alive through the interplay of ancient and modern texts and Renaissance art. We spend our time together in a beautiful palazzo in the Santa Croce neighborhood. Language, art, and scholarship merge fluently in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom and interdisciplinary exchange. Students’ days consist of reviewing Latin grammar and reading the great authors of Latin literature, exploring the art treasures of Florence, and crafting written responses. The evenings feature Italy’s many leisure and culinary offerings.
Learning to Read Latin and Discovering Ancient History, July 17-28, 2024
ROME!! SORRENTO!! Calder Classics invites students entering 10th through 12th grades to join us in Rome and the Bay of Naples this summer. This course is designed for students who are ready to make the transition to reading unadapted Latin texts. Throughout our 12-day program, the Classics come alive through the study of Latin, exploration of archaeological and modern sites, and immersion in daily Italian life. We spend the first week in Rome within walking distance of the Circus Maximus, the Forum, the Palatine, and the Colosseum. During the second week, we travel to Sorrento where we reside in a location perfectly suited to visit the many ancient sites in the Bay of Naples.
Available Sessions may be subject to a minimum number of students enrolled per session. The fee is for tuition only and does not include travel expenses to arrive at the program destination. If you would like to discuss any of our Educational Travel Programs, please email calderclassics@gmail.com or Contact Us.
Past Travel Programs
Planning for our 2024 travel programs is underway! As our new course offerings are confirmed we list them in the section above under “Travel Programs Offered in 2024”. In the meantime, feel free to browse some of our past offerings below:
ESSEX, MASSACHUSETTS!! A unique summer writing program designed for students of mythology and the Classics who are interested in honing and developing their creative writing and storytelling skills. At the Calder Classics Institute, a bucolic seacoast location north of Boston, the ancient story of Homer’s Iliad along with modern Homeric adaptations come alive for students seeking an interdisciplinary experience with a diverse group of peers.
FLORENCE!! Calder Classics invites students to spend ten days in Florence exploring the classical foundation stories and their influence on our modern culture in our Creative Writing Workshop this summer. Through daily writing workshops, readings of ancient and modern literature, and exploration of local sites our students are sure to hear the local muses and return home with manuscripts of their own modern myths.
FLORENCE!! Calder Classics invites students to spend ten days in Florence reading and discussing Latin literature in an interactive “salon” style environment. To complement these readings, our resident art historian guides us on a daily exploration of art throughout the city that is thematically related to our Latin texts, including Botticelli’s Primavera and Birth of Venus and Michelangelo's David.
Students in the Creative Writing or Reading Latin programs wishing to also join the next Calder Classics program in Greece, Learning Ancient Greek + Philosophy, from July 12-26 may travel with Cindy Calder on July 12 from Florence to meet the group in Thessaloniki. Please contact us by email to confirm travel arrangements.
ROME!! Calder Classics invites high school students to join us for a week this summer as we investigate how the Roman Empire asserted itself physically in the city of Rome in antiquity, and how the ghosts of the ancient empire reappeared in modern history during the 19th and 20th centuries. In particular, we focus on the emperor Augustus’ massive building program in Rome, and consider how Mussolini and the Fascist regime used Augustus as a model, and in doing so, also asserted their power in the city by means of a widespread building program. In this session, our discussions focus on the historical context and broader themes of the sites we visit.
THESSALONIKI!! Calder Classics invites students entering 9th through 12th grades to join us in Thessaloniki in the summer of 2023. Over the course of a 2-week program, we bring the Classics alive through the study of the ancient Greek language and philosophy, the exploration of ancient sites, and immersion in daily Greek life. We reside in two beautiful settings, both in view of Mount Olympus.
Students wishing to join us on the preceding Reading Latin program in Florence from July 2-12 may travel with Cindy Calder between Florence and Thessaloniki. Students wishing to join us on the next Journeys to the Underworld program from July 27-August 3 may stay overnight with Cindy Calder and other students in Thessaloniki on July 26 and travel with us to Florence to meet the Tuscany group on July 27. Please contact us by email to confirm travel arrangements.
ESSEX, MASSACHUSETTS!! A residential summer program at the Calder Classics Institute designed for enthusiastic high school students of US History who want to heighten their familiarity with the influences of Greco-Roman writings and ideas on education, government, and society in the US from the foundation of the nation to modern times. In a seacoast setting north of Boston the Classics come alive for accomplished students seeking an interdisciplinary education experience with a diverse group of peers.
TUSCANY!! Calder Classics invites dedicated intermediate to advanced students in either Greek or Latin to join us in a stunning villa in Tuscany, surrounded by the Etruscan countryside where Greek and Roman remnants abound, to read ancient texts that explore underworld narratives and prophecies.
Travel Program Testimonials
