We will walk the ground on which the Great War was fought. We’ll visit the museums that interrogate the memory of a war that changed the world. And we will engage with history in the places history was made during a 19-day intensive study tour that retraces Australia’s war across Gallipoli and the Western Front.

We begin in Istanbul, to get a sense of the centuries-old Ottoman Empire’s military traditions and how they were mobilised during the Gallipoli campaign. We will explore the Topkapi Palace and the galleries of the Harbiye Military Museum and Cultural Site Command.

Students will then relocate to the Canakkale province on the straits of the Dardanelles, the epicentre of both the Trojan wars and the Gallipoli campaign. Over four days students will reconstruct the battles of 1915, charting the old front line through the gullies and across the ridges. We will also examine the ways Turkish, Australian, New Zealand, and French and British Imperial authorities claim a place in this vast commemorate landscape.

The second phase of the program moves to the Western Front. Major campaigns will be examined, as will the experiences of war behind the lines, in particular the interaction of troops and nurses with the civilian population. Again, there will be a focus on commemorative landscapes, the making of memorials (by all combatant nations) and a detailed interrogation of the major museums in Flanders, the Somme and Verdun. Here you will meet with the curators of ‘In Flanders Fields’ Museum in Ieper and you’ll hear about an ANU internship program that offers further opportunities to work and study in Europe.

Visited locations in Belgium and France include but are not limited to: Ypres, the Menin Gate, Langemark, Tyne Cot, Passchendaele, Hill 60, Fromelles, Vimy, Wellington Quarry, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Bullecourt, Mont St Quentin, Villers-Bretonneux, Le Hamel, Pozières, Thiepval, Beaumont-Hamel, Douaumont, Verdun, Vauquois and museum/commemorative sites in Paris. Our journey will conclude in Paris at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

What are the fees associated with this course?

This course will incur the same tuition fee of any 12-unit course offered in history at the ANU. Refer to Programs and Courses website for domestic and international tuition fees.

Is there any financial assistance I can access?

This is an intensive course that will earn 12 units towards your degree. We welcome students from all disciplinary backgrounds, so you do not need to be enrolled in a History major to undertake this course. It counts towards a History Major or a War Studies Major but may also count towards electives in your program of study, if available. Please seek advice from your academic college’s student office if you are unsure. To apply, you must have completed 12 units of History (HIST) courses or 24 units of ANU courses with permission from the convenor at the time of this application.

The Great War’s Battlefields Study Tour takes teaching and learning out of the classroom. Assessment has been tailored to take advantage of teaching and learning ‘in the field’, engaging with places and objects of immense historical interest. There is a strong component of collaborative learning, an opportunity for you to draw on your own skills and interests and a chance to reflect on your experience on your return to Australia. Specific assessment will include:

• In-country presentations (1000 words each) 15% each - total 30%
  These exercises will involve a mix of group work and individual endeavour. The presentations will be delivered on-site (memorials, battlefields, museums etc.) Each student will contribute to two in-country presentations and write-up.
• Course diary (1500 words) 15%
  This diary will be the narrative of your journey across this memory landscape. It will be kept during your time overseas and can provide an additional resource for your research paper.
• Preliminary Research Paper (1500 words) 15%
  This is a reflective essay on the John Monash Interpretive Centre. ‘The digital battlefield’: war as a Re-enactment’.
• Research Paper (4000 words) 40%
  Although you will have completed much of the research and readings for this project before we return to Australia, you are not required to submit the major essay until a month after our return. The research essay will compare and contrast sites and museums we have visited in the course of our tour, focusing on galleries/exhibitions/commemorative landscapes that you found of particular interest.

Are there preliminary readings/activities?

Dr. Romain Fathi is an Associate Professor at the School of History and has published widely on the First World War and its commemoration. Romain has previously visited the sites selected for the tour, often on multiple occasions.

This tour may also draw on expertise from other ANU historians and staff attached to leading cultural institutions including the Australian War Memorial, the Historial in France, and the In Flanders Fields Museum in Belgium.

Joining the course will be two Field Assistants. They will have no formal teaching responsibilities but will assist with ANU field trip requirements, tour logistics and play a special role providing additional pastoral care to students. The Field Assistants are affiliated with the ANU.

This course will commence with a mandatory pre-departure briefing on Friday 28 May and a visit to the Australian War Memorial on Saturday 29 May 2027. The Great War’s Battlefields Study Tour itself will be held from 20 June to 8 July 2027. Overseas teaching will take place in Turkey, Belgium and France.

What if I want to travel in Europe after the tour?

This course will involve walking across challenging terrain (especially on the Gallipoli Peninsula). On an average day, you may have to walk up to 10 kilometres. You must have a good level of fitness to undertake this course and, if you are taking any medications, ensure that they can be safely taken with you in the countries we visit. Please be aware that some medications are not permitted in certain countries. As part of the eForm Travel Approval process you will need to declare any allergies and/or disabilities and/or conditions that might affect your learning and travel.

A valid passport with at least six months validity before its expiry date prior to travel. This is your responsibility.

Students travelling on Australian passports need to apply for a visa to travel to Turkey. Our travel provider will provide students with the web address to do this so students can apply for their visa independently.

Students travelling on other passports are required to obtain visas for all the countries we visit and must allow sufficient time for the visa to be processed.

All students must be enrolled in the course and must have completed the ANU Travel eForm, or equivalent at the time, and received travel approval by the authorised ANU delegate before commencing the course.

During the Study Tour, ANU students are covered by ANU travel insurance at no cost to themselves upon the completion of the ANU Travel eForm, if approved for international travel by the relevant ANU delegate. This form (which includes a statement of any pre-existing medical conditions) must be completed by April 2027 at the latest.

If you choose to stay in Europe after the tour, you are encouraged to consider your own travel insurance options.

The University’s first priority is your personal wellbeing and safety. This course will avoid any place where students may be put at serious risk and ANU staff will continuously monitor DFAT safety warnings. Students will be required to do likewise. There may be unscheduled changes to the itinerary in the light of DFAT travel warnings. Students will be briefed on maintaining health and personal safety at the orientation session. All students undertaking this course will be consulted about, and provided with, a Risk Assessment form they will be required to adhere to.

Yes. Our travel provider WOW! Travel negotiates a very competitive group fare for study tour participants. We will depart from Sydney together to fly to our first destination, Istanbul. Organising your return flight from Europe is your responsibility (allowing students maximum flexibility in when, where and how they travel after the tour). The group fare generally comes with a flexible return date from most European cities. Information about flight booking will be provided in the third quarter of 2026.

Absolutely. To deliver safe, quality teaching, and to protect the fragile landscapes and heritage value of all our destinations, this course is capped at a maximum of 28 students.

To secure a place, you must do three things.

1. Submit your Expression of Interest (EOI) form available HERE (you will need to use your ANU student number and password to access the form) and your ANU transcript by 2 July 2026 to romain.fathi@anu.edu.au with the following email: 

"I, YOUR NAME, understand that the course will be conducted from 20 June to 8 July 2027 and undertake to participate in all class activities and assessments outlined in ANU Programs and Courses for HIST2206 before, during and after that time, including the mandatory pre departure briefing and orientation session at the Australian War Memorial in May 2027. I am in good health and have/will acquire a passport (and any required visas) enabling travel to sites overseas. At the time of sending this email, I have completed 12 units of HIST-badged courses or 24 units of ANU  courses towards my degree. I am happy to have my name included on a group email of prospective students. I also agree to have my photograph taken at tour sites, and to sign the release form in due course. Finally, I acknowledge that I will be required to declare any allergy, condition or disability that may affect my travel and learning as part of the ANU Travel approval process to be approved for overseas travel. If invited for an interview as part of the selection process, I will make myself available on the interview date (during Week 1, Semeter 2, 2026)"

2. If successful as part of the selection process and invited to do so, you will need to undertake the first in a schedule of payments for the travel package fee of $6,190. As noted above, this fee is in addition to the standard tuition fee and will cover all accommodation and most land transport, travel from Turkey to Belgium, some museum entries, some meals in transit and all meals on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

The first payment of $600 is due no later than 1 September 2026 (but can be made earlier, providing you have been selected for the tour as part of the application process). The payment can be made through the approved travel agent for this course, WOW! Travel, email timhakins@bigpond.com.

3. Enrol in the course via ANU portals when enrolments open for Autumn/Winter session 2027.