Hellenic Studies summer notes: Greece Field School

SFU’s Hellenic Studies Program and Douglas College collaborated again to bring a group of undergraduate students to Greece for a field school in May and June 2019.

The first three weeks were spent at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies at SFU, where students participated in seminars and orientations, while getting to know the faculty and each other as they prepared for their intellectual adventure.

Landing in the Greek capital of Athens, students fought off jetlag (and the heat!) and hit the ground running, with trips to the Acropolis, Pnyx, National Archaeological museum, and more before taking the short trip to the Aegean island of Lesvos. For three weeks, students settled into the island lifestyle of lectures and readings, interspersed with swims in the Aegean, hikes in the hills around Molyvos, and siestas in the hot afternoons. There were outings to Mytilene, a Byzantine-era Monastery, a petrified forest, and Mt. Lepetimnos.

Finally, to round out the trip, students travelled to Thessaloniki, Greece's second city, where they spent the last few days together reflecting on what they’d learned before making a last jaunt into Athens, where thanks to the generous support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, students were welcomed as attendees to the annual Philanthropy conference put on by the Foundation at the SNF Cultural Center.

The SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies and Douglas College will be teaming up again to send another cohort to Greece during the summer of 2020. Earn university credits while visiting the Acropolis; Byzantine and Ottoman Imperial ruins, the White Tower of Thessaloniki, and more! Learn more in the links below.

To learn about the 2020 Greece Field School, please visit the program page for more information.

For more information about the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies, please visit our Media page.