There’s something fitting about beginning your journey in Athens. For our first-year students—especially those in the Philosophy and Ethics course —this trip wasn’t about checking off tourist sites. It was about understanding where ideas come from, and what it means to question the world.
Over the course of a very busy week, our students visited the Acropolis, stood beneath the Parthenon, and spent hours inside the Acropolis Museum. They saw the busts of ancient philosophers whose words they’d been reading for the past semester. They debated politics near the Agora. They asked what kind of democracy this really was, what the state of democracy is now, and what lessons still hold true 2000 years later.
Of course, it wasn’t all serious. There were late-night walks, cold drinks, and plenty of time to just sit in the sun and process what they’d seen. Students also spent a day on Hydra—no cars, no stress, just the sea, some donkeys, and a reminder that thinking deeply doesn’t always happen in a classroom.
But make no mistake—this was about learning. Not learning facts, but learning how to see. How to reflect. How to think. These students didn’t just “study” philosophy. They did it. On ancient ground. In dialogue with history, and with each other.
This is what we mean when we say education should be personal, practical, and profound. Our students don’t just learn content. They wrestle with ideas that have shaped the world—and start to shape their own. This is Practical Experiential Learning at its finest.
0 Comments