Kelley class to go abroad to study Greece's financial crisis

Students in X255, Business Culture of Greece, will be concluding their eight-week course studying the country’s history, economy, legal system and politics with a trip to Greece from May 14 to 25, according to a press release.

Greece is currently in the midst of a financial crisis, with its public deficit at 10.5 percent of gross domestic product. This crisis has continued even after the European Union gave Greece a 110 billion euro bailout in 2010.

Besides business meetings and company visits, the trip will also include visits to the Acropolis, Delphi and the National Archeological Museum.

Junior Carl Comstock is majoring in finance and accounting and is going on the trip. It will be his first time out of the country.

“Travelling by myself and getting around with the language barrier should be an interesting experience I’m really looking forward to,” he said. “Food shouldn’t be a problem either because I’m not a picky eater.”

Sophomore Christian Fritz is majoring in accounting and finance and is going on the trip with his two roommates who also took the course. He said he’s looking forward to seeing how the Greeks perceive economic issues.

“You hear in the news about economic crises and this is a good opportunity to study them firsthand,” he said.

Having been to Toronto three times, this will be Fritz’s first time out of the continent.

“I’m really excited to see how close the Greeks are, it’s a close-knit culture,” he said.

The students will visit McCann Erickson, the international advertising and marketing firm that is led by a Kelley School of Business graduate, according to the release.

“They’re going to a country that in one way or another is experiencing the same economic issues as their own (U.S.) domestic economy, just in different proportions and maybe in a different context,” Paul Coulis, an IU alumnus who helped organize the class, said in the release.

To help students prepare for the trip, Coulis judged a case competition and held a Q&A session with them.     

The class was open to admitted business and liberal arts and management students with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average and at least a sophomore standing, said Tia Trueblood, assistant director of International Programs.

This is the first year the course was offered by Professor Tatiana Kolovou and there are 19 students in the spring course.

Each student will participate in a blog about their trip at http://kelleygreece2011.blogspot.com/