Study Abroad in Greece!
May 30 – June 27, 2025
Early Deadline: December 4
Final Deadline: March 4
About the program
During this summer study abroad program, students will use the cityscape of modern Athens, visits to sites and museums in central and southern Greece, and meetings with civic society organizations, to develop an understanding of how the modern nation-state of Greece is constantly inventing itself. Through activities ranging from visiting the Acropolis to touring modern Athens’ vibrant street art scene, students will see how the history of Greece has unfolded, and continues to unfold, in the built environment of the city of Athens. Trips to sites such as Delphi, Olympia, and Sparta will also give students an unrivalled opportunity to think about the ways in which identity and culture are constructed around the world – and to question the narratives they have been told about their own identity and history.
Program Highlights
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Open to all majors
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Scholarships available
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Earn 6 upper-division GE units
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CSUF faculty-led courses
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Acropolis & National Archaeological Museum visits
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Two-day trip: Central Greece (Delphi, Orchomenos, Distomo, Thermopylae)
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Five-day trip: Peloponnese
(Nafplio, Mystras, Sparta, Olympia) -
Guided tour: AEK Athens Stadium & Museum
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Visit: Jewish Museum of Greece
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Athens street art walking tour
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Service learning with Boroume
(NGO fighting food waste and insecurity)
Program Fee (tentative)
$0 - $1000 (tentative)
The program fee includes the following items:
- Housing
- All program academic fieldtrips
- Ground transportation
- Group lunches
- International travel insurance
The student fee does not include the following:
- CSUF books and tuition
- Round-trip airfare
- Passport or visa fees if applicable
- Daily personal meals and other expenses
Program Courses
HSS 350: Life and Culture in Greece (3 units; GE C.3)
The city of Athens will be the main classroom for this course. Students will visit the Acropolis and the major museums of antiquity to understand the ways in which the modern nation-state of Greece has used antiquity to define itself in opposition to its Ottoman past. On further explorations of the city, they will see traces of the city’s Byzantine and Ottoman past; discover how the early independent Greek state’s international sponsors shaped the architecture of the modern city; and investigate how the ‘Great Catastrophe’ of 1922 and the forced migration of 1.2 million Greeks from Asia to Athens is reflected in the city’s food, neighborhoods, and sports teams. Trips to the Peloponnese and central Greece will give students more time to explore the foodways of modern Greece (as at the Museum of Olive Oil at Sparta), the importance of antiquity to the identity of modern Greece (at Olympia, Delphi, and Sparta), and the creation of the modern state (as at Nafplion, the first capital of independent Greece).
HIST 311: World War II (in Greece) (3 units; GE D.3)
This course will focus on Greece as one of the most important arenas of World War II. On-site learning will be crucial for the course. Building on classroom lectures, readings, and videos, students will be able to see and experience first-hand in Athens, and again in central Greece and the Peloponnese, some of the most important themes and events of World War II. They will see first-hand, for example, the Nazi self-identification with the ancient Greeks in monuments at Olympia whose excavation was paid for directly by Hitler. They will visit sites of reprisals by the Waffen SS perpetrated in response to the successes of Greek partisan troops. They will learn about the horror of the Holocaust in the Jewish Museum of Athens. The course will conclude by considering how the Greek civil war (from 1944 onwards) led to the eventual creation of NATO and the outbreak of the ‘Cold War’.
Faculty
Dr. Stephen O’Connor
soconnor@fullerton.edu
History
Stephen O’Connor is a Professor of History at California State University, Fullerton. His research focuses on the logistics and economics of Greek warfare, and especially the markets Classical Greek sailors and soldiers participated in while on campaign. He has also published articles on the diet, pay, and tactics of Greek military forces. He has been teaching courses at CSUF on different aspects of ancient Greek history (in addition to courses in world and Near Eastern history) since 2012. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, he has also previously lived in the United Kingdom and Greece. He lives now in Fullerton, where he enjoys spending time with his family, watching movies, and investing too much time and energy into following the fortunes of Arsenal F.C.
Need more information?
- Visit the Student Success Center / HUM-112 / 8am-5pm, M-F
- Email Jaycee Cover for more information.
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Attend a Zoom Info Session
| Meeting | Day | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Info Session | Wednesday | 10-Sept | 12:30-1pm |
| Info Session | Tuesday | 30-Sept | 12:30-1pm |
| Info Session | Monday | 20-Oct | 12:30-1pm |
| Info Session | Thursday | 13-Nov | 12:30-1pm |
| Info Session | Wednesday | 3-Dec | 12:30-1pm |
| Info Session | Tuesday | 16-Dec | 12:30-1pm |
