Erasmus in UOA

Usuario Anónimo

Published by flag-gr Usuario Anónimo — 4 years ago

Blog: Life in Athens
Tags: flag-gr Erasmus blog UOA, UOA, Greece

During my four years in the Faculty of Law in the University of Athens, I have only met 2(! ) erasmus students: a French guy and a Spanish girl. This doesn't necessarily mean that there are that few erasmus students, because I am sure that if I were part of one of the ESN organisations of my country, this would make me socialise with more erasmus students than I do now. However, having been an erasmus student myself, I can imagine that being one in Greece, can be really difficult, mostly because of the language. It is a good thing that most Greeks speak English (my friends Irene and Carlos that were here during the summer told me that even on some really isolated parts of Santorini, there were some farmers that spoke fluent English and my friends were pleasantly surprised by that), but it is hard having to listen to a language which you cannot understand at all, all day long. Let alone not being able to read anything, unless it is also written in Latin -because of our different alphabet. So, what erasmus students in Greece, and specifically in Athens, need to do is search for information in English and constantly make questions until they clear things up. This is why I have decided to sum up some information and probably a couple of tips for students that study in the University of Athens and mainly those who are fellow Law Students, like myself.

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  • First off, you should know where everything is -even I have an orientation problem in the Centre of Athens, since I am living in the suburbs, but the good thing is that most of the buildings are really close to one another -so, if you can manage to go to the Faculty, where the classes are held, you will be able to fing the Departments and Libraries just as easily. Lectures and written exams for the classes are held on 3, Sina street (on two buildings, that are next to one another and are known as “old building” and “new building” respectively. In the same buildings, there is the Faculty of Economy and the Faculty of Political Science. There are also classes in 45, Akadimias (on the first floor) and in 7a, Ippokratous Street, on the first floor.
  • The Departments, where you can register for classes or talk to professors about projects, questions you might have etc. are the following:
    • Department A' of Private Law, 33 Ippokratous Str, 2nd Floor.
    • Department B' of Private Law (Civil Procedure Law, Labour Law and Commercial Law), 33 Ippokratous Str, 6th Floor
    • Department of Public Law, 33 Ippokratous Str, 3rd Floor
    • Department of Penal Studies, 45 Akadimias Str, 2nd Floor, Office 1
    • Department of History and Theory of Law (History of Law, Philosophy of Law, Ecclesiastical Law), 47 Akadimias Street
    • Department of International Studies, 14 Sina Street, 3rd Floor
  • There is also a Computer Room, where you can use the University's computers and get help with anything regarding an online procedure (registration for classes, seminars or projects etc). The person responsible for this is really helpful and I am sure that you will not experience any problems. This room is in 9 Asklipiou Street, on the first floor. It is open every weekday from 09:00 to 16:00.
  • Since there are far too many libraries I don't want to make this entry confusing, so I will soon dedicate a separate entry to them.
  • The Secretariat is in 45, Akadimias Street, on the ground floor. It is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:30 to 13:00 (if there are times when this schedule varies for erasmus students, like some times in the past, they will put an announcement in English right outside the Secreteriat's entry.
  • Now, regarding the classes that are available for erasmus students. If an erasmus student speaks Greek -it is uncommon, but it has happened in the past- they can attend any classes they want, as if they were regular UOA students. In most cases, though, the erasmus students speak English. Our Faculty does not have English classes for us Greeks (I mean that it is not bilingual, like in other countries) but there is a series of classes an erasmus student can take in English or a couple of other languages. I will write them down here:
  • For the winter semester:
    • Classes in English: 1. European Administrative Systems, 2. Introduction to Greek Civil Law, 3. European Law, 4. Public International Law/International Economic Law, 5. Intellectual Property Law, 6. Information Technology Law, 7. Criminal Law, 8. Competition Law, 9. Maritime Law, 10. Civil Procedure, 11. Public Health Law, 12. Individual Labour Law
    • Classes in German: 1. Introduction to Civil Procedure Law and International Civil Procedure Law, 2. National and International Protection of Fundamental Rights, 3. Introduction to Greek Legal History
    • Classes in French: 1. Civil Procedure, 2. Comparative Public Law
    • Classes in Italian: 1. Introduction to the Greek Constitutional Law
  • For the spring semester:
    • Classes in English: 1. Company Law, 2. Criminology, 3. Philosophy of Law, 4. Collective Labour Law, 5. Comparative Family Law, 6. Insurance Law, 7. Banking Law, 8. Seminar in International Business Transactions, 9. Penology
    • Classes in German: 1. Introduction to Civil Procedure Law and International Civil Procedure Law, 2. Introduction to the Greek Civil Law, 3. Selected Cases of Greek Civil Law, 4. Introduction to Greek Legal History II
    • Classes in French: 1. Greek Law of Succesion
  • The Department of ESN for the University of Athens is called ESN KAPA (from the word “Kapodistriakon” that is part of the University's name in Greek). I have friends who volunteer there and they have told me about all the parties, events and excursions they organise and I have to say that I highly recommend you to contact them and learn how you can be a member, so that you can take part in all these activities. They usually organise Greek nights, tours of Acropoli, trips to Epidaurus and other archaeological sites and right now they are planning their big trip to the island of Creta. This trip is annual for ESN and it is very popular for the erasmus students.
  • Don't hesitate asking fellow greek law students for help -we already know how messy and confusing our Faculty's functioning can get, even for us, who don't have an extra problem -the language one! So, I'm 100% sure that we can all relate to you and are willing to give you any help we can.

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