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Department of Anthropology
Students examining a skeleton

Anthropology Field Course: Volos, Greece

The theme of the Volos field course in mainland Greece is ‘Urban Ethnography’. We investigate ways of doing fieldwork in urban contexts, which are larger than villages and in some ways ‘messier’ and more complicated. Our fieldwork provides the opportunity to talk to local people and engage in primary research to learn a lot about the complicated past and the troubled present of a Mediterranean country that has played a central role in key moments of recent European political history.

We also explore the chronobiology of Greek life, monitoring the adaptation of our own body clocks to the physical and social jet-lag we will experience during our transition from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean and back. We reflect on how the enforced temporal patterns of daily lives in a post-industrial society interacts with the body’s circadian clock, and affects health and wellbeing.

Buildings next to a waterfront

Volos waterfront

Group of people looking at camera in a greek cafe

Student group in a traditional greek cafe

a large group of students sitting in a sunny square

Group of students sitting in a town centre square

"The academic staff on the Volos field course were lovely, they were very encouraging and patient. By far my favourite module. The staff taught me how to put essential Anthropological skills into practice which has furthered my understanding of Anthropology as a whole"
Volos field course student
Anthropology Department
"I loved going to the Volos field course, it was a very interesting and formative experience that has made more confident for my dissertation. The professors and the tutors were really good and made this field course a good experience academically and personally."
Volos field course student
Anthropology Department
"The field course was very rewarding and allowed me to see how anthropology is applied in the real world. Getting to talk to locals about their experiences and the implications of political–economic change transcended the material we learn about in lectures and seminars to the real world, giving real purpose to the subject. It was emotional hearing some of the information but I am very grateful for this experience and enjoyed writing up the qualitative assessment thoroughly."
Volos field course student
Anthropology Department