Summer 2016

Arizona in the Aegean will offer an expanded program for Summer 2016! The program participants will visit important sites in mainland (e.g., Athens, Delphi, Olympia, Mycenae, Nafplio) while still exploring in depth the culture and interconnectedness of the Cycladic Islands using the island of Kea as a basis.

Tentative 2016 dates: June 6 - July 6

Students in the Arizona in the Aegean program will be registered for 6 units of ANTH 341/CLAS 341: Mediterranean Craft Technologies and Environmental Strategies. This course is also cross-listed with Classics, and it is a featured destination of the Honors College.  The focus of the program will still be on Mediterranean Technologies and Environmental Strategies, with a special emphasis on Technologies of Performance. (Faculty-led: Prof. Robert Groves and Prof. Evi Gorogianni)

On the Greek mainland, the program will features visits to famous sites which hosted spectacles and performances of many kinds: athletic, civic, literary and religious.  Students will climb to the temple of Apollo at Delphi and the famous Parthenon in Athens, visit the renown theater at Epidaurus, tour the institutions of Athenian Democracy, and run in the stadium that hosted the ancient Olympics games at Olympia, in addition to visiting museums filled with superb artifacts and ecofacts. On the idyllic island settings of Kea students are given the opportunity to handle with archaeological materials and directly examine interconnections between craft production and performance by visiting mines and quarries, engaging with the fundamentals of several technologies such as pottery and textile production, metallurgy, beekeeping, food production and preparation. Students are introduced to icons of Greek art, architecture and literature through readings and, most significantly, through hands-on activities and opportunities for their own performance or craft production. They also gain unique experiences and exercise critical skills while grounded in the landscape and environment that was the cradle of Western civilization.

Videos describing the program details and itinerary were created by Professor Groves and Professor Gorogianni. Click for Weeks 1-2 & Weeks 3-4.

Program Leaders for Summer 2016:

Robert Groves, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Classics, The University of Arizona

Evi Gorogianni, Senior Lecturer, Department of Anthropology and Classical Studies, The University of Akron