Special Themes

Modern Greek Studies Worldwide

Reading Greece

Modern Greek Studies cover the Greek world, including the diaspora, from the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the present. The field has been growing around the world, both in numbers of scholars and in the disciplines they represent: anthropology, architecture, art history, classics, economics, education, film, folklore, history, language, linguistics, literature, political science, psychology, sociology, theater and women's studies.

Greece is a product of cultural mixing, of the streaming together of ideas, customs, languages, knowledge, and people in Southern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. Located at the confluence of civilizations since antiquity, Greece has always benefited from this blending. Students of Greece, encounter the cultural crucible of the Mediterranean basin. Greek culture is also the product of Greek migrations and Greek diasporas are an important subject of Modern Greek Studies.

The Hellenic tradition constitutes an incomparable cross-cultural field of learning and investigation. Greek studies includes the interdisciplinary examination of Greek literature, history, thought and culture, as well as the influences of that civilization on other histories and cultures through the centuries. Thus the study of Greece is not limited to the Eastern Mediterranean but covers the continuous movements, appropriations, and transformations of Hellenism on a global scale.

A Greek Studies curriculum typically includes advanced courses on Greek literature, linguistics, history, culture and society. In disciplines not defined by national traditions, such as anthropology, political science, comparative literature and sociology, modern Greek culture and the Greek diaspora constitute case studies informing larger issues that concern human society. Thus, Greek poetry may be taught in a course on the Odysseus theme in world literature; Greek politics in a course on modern state formation, comparative nationalism or international relations; and Greek history may be introduced in a survey of contemporary Europe, the Balkans, Eastern Europe or the Near East.

In the last twenty years, interdisciplinary programs covering the language, literature, culture, history and politics of modern Greece have been established wordwide. These programs cover a wide range of subjects at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Many of these programs also sponsor regular conferences, graduate fellowships, dissertation and translation prizes, and endowed lectures, as well as publish Greek Studies journals and books.

Adapted from  Modern Greek Studies Association (MGSA) and  University of Michigan - C. P. Cavafy Professorship in Modern Greek Studies websites

Greek Studies Worldwide...

Hellenic Studies on the Net - Research Project:

http://history.arch.uoa.gr/hellenicstudies

An ambitious project of collected links, based in the University of Athens.

Faculties of Neohellenic Studies abroad:

http://www.culture.gr/2/20/201/e201114a.html 

A list from the Ministry of Culture website.

In North America...

Modern Greek Studies Association (MGSA):

http://www.humanities.uci.edu/classics/MGSA

Links to Greek Studies programmes and Modern Greek studies resources in North America.

Johns Hopkins University Press - Journal of Modern Greek Studies:

http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_modern_greek

The most prestigious academic journal in the field.

Princeton University - Hellenic Studies Program:

http://www.princeton.edu/%7Ehellenic

The program is growing steadily, offering an ever-expanding curriculum and a multitude of research resources for the study of Greek civilisation from antiquity to the present. Read an interesting interview with its executive director Dimitri Gonticas at:  http://www.ana.gr/hermes/1999/feb/intrview.htm

University of Michigan - C.P. Cavafy Professorship in Modern Greek Studies:

http://www.lsa.umich.edu/modgreek

Named after Constantine P. Cavafy (1863-1933), the best-known modern poet writing in Greek. Offers a broad-based liberal arts curriculum. Read C.P. Cavafy Professor Vassilis Lambropoulos Inaugural Address entitled "Modern as Opposed to What?". Other interesting features include "Cavafy's World" readings about Cavafy, as well as "The Now and Future Greek America Strategies for Survival" lecture delivered by Dan Georgakas.

Hellenic Studies at New York University - Onassis Program:

http://www.nyu.edu/pages/onassis

One of the leading centers in the United States for the study of Hellenism, the Onassis Program includes a diverse faculty drawn from a variety of disciplines.  

Tufts University - Fletcher School - Constantine Karamanlis Professorship in Hellenic and Southeastern European Studies:

http://fletcher.tufts.edu/faculty/prevelakis/Default.asp

Georges Prevelakis, Professor at the Sorbonne University, Paris, offers a variety of very interesting courses covering not only Greece, but also the Balkans and the wider Mediterranean.

Yale Center for International and Area Studies - Hellenic Studies Program:

http://www.yale.edu/ycias/hsp

Supports and coordinates the study of post-Classical Hellenic culture and civilization at Yale, organizing lectures, symposia and conferences. Includes courses taught by visiting scholars and a program of instruction in the modern Greek language.  

Hellenic Studies @ Simon Fraser University:

http://www2.sfu.ca/hellenic-studies

Focuses on the study of Greek history complemented by language,  literature, philosophy and political science courses, affording the students the opportunity to establish an intellectual appreciation of both ancient and modern Hellenism.

York University - Hellenic Heritage Foundation Chair of Hellenic Studies:

http://www.arts.yorku.ca/hist/tgallant

Chaired by the History Professor Thomas W. Gallant the program offers Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Greece academic courses.    

In Europe...

European Society for Modern Greek Studies:

http://www.eens.org/cm/cm_dokument.asp?uuid=1

A scholarly society that aims at the advancement of research and teaching in the fields of Modern Greek language, literature, history and culture. Its regular members are the respective Modern Greek Studies Associations of European countries. Check the news section regularly!

King's College London - Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies:

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kis/schools/hums/byzmodgreek/top.html

The Department has a long tradition of scholarship in the fields of Modern Greek and Byzantine history, language and literature. Distinguished former members of the Department include A.J. Toynbee (holder of the Koraes Chair 1889-1975), Cyril Mango, Richard Clogg, Peter Mackridge, and the late Philip Sherrard.

Hellenic Observatory - London School of Economics and Political science:

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/hellenicObservatory

Aims at the "the deepening of knowledge and understanding of contemporary Greece". The website contains policy papers on Greek affairs, the Balkan reconstruction and regional cooperation.

University of Birmingham - Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies:

http://www.arch-ant.bham.ac.uk/bomg/index.htm

The Centre’s full time staff cover a wide range of fields and expertise in respect of both the history and the languages of the East Mediterranean region.

Scandinavian Society for Modern Greek Studies:

http://www.hum.ku.dk/osteuro/ssmgs

Its members are scholars and graduate students in Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Lund and Stockholm.

Universiteit van Amsterdam - Nieuwgriekse taal

http://www.nieuwgrieks.nl

Modern Greek Studies and related activities in the Netherlands.

Freie Universitat Berlin - Byzantinisch - Neugriechisches Seminar:

http://www.fu-berlin.de/byzneogr/neograec/index.htm

Also consult the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Neogräzistik in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland" website at:

http://www.fu-berlin.de/byzneogr/neograec/AG/index.htm

Universität Wien - Institut für Byzantinistik und Neogräzistik:

http://www.univie.ac.at/byzneo

Greek studies courses and other activities in Vienna, Austria.

Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS):

http://www.ehess.fr/html/html/D_1870.html

Georges Dertilis - Directeur d'études, offers courses on the Greek state formation and the history of the Mediterranean region.

Hellenic Institute in Venice:

http://www.istitutoellenico.org

Focuses on Byzantine and Post Byzantine Studies and the relevant Greco-Italian relations.

In Australia...

University of Sydney - Department of Modern Greek:

http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/moderngreek

Provides teaching and promotes research in post-classical Greek. Its historical and geographical range is from the end of the Ancient World through to contemporary Greece, Cyprus and the world-wide Greek diaspora, including Australia.

La Trobe University,  Melbourne - Greek Studies Program:

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/hellenic

Offers subjects in Greek language, culture and history from antiquity to the present day, at undergraduate, honours and postgraduate levels. Melbourne's large Greek community provides learners of Greek with a stimulating cultural and social environment in which to observe and practise what they study.

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