The Hellenic Studies Program at the University of
Washington
was initiated in the summer of 1998 following the
establishment of the Hellenic Studies Endowed Fund through an agreement between
the University and Hellenes of the Northwest, a formally organized group of
people interested in Modern Greek history and culture. The initial amount
of money placed in the fund was $80,000.00 but continuing contributions have
raised the level to more than $500,000.00. Before 1998, several
departments provided the opportunity to study Ancient and Medieval Greek history
and culture. However, modern Greece had
little presence in our curriculum nor were existing courses integrated to
create an interdisciplinary area of emphasis. The challenge was accepted
and an interdisciplinary committee was established to construct a program coordinating
offerings and adding new courses to study modern Greece .
In the autumn of 2000, a Hellenic Studies concentration was added to the
European Studies program housed in the Jackson School of International Studies.
“What prompted
the professors to pursue such an undertaking?” asked John T. John, a member of
Hellenes of the Northwest and a key figure in gaining support for the
program. “First, they wanted to make sure students were not leaving the
university with the impression that Greece was
a country that once existed. All they were learning about Greece had
to do with her past. Nothing was taught about Modern Greece, even though
this relatively small country is a major player in the northeast Mediterranean
region. A second reason was to give young Greek-American students the
opportunity to learn about their heritage. But the most important reason
was the realization that Hellenic Studies is a good thing not just for the
Greeks; it is of benefit to anyone searching for a meaningful life. As it
did throughout history, Greek culture with its emphasis on democratic, humane,
and just values can play an inspirational role for the development of better
human beings and a better society.”
Three
basic and overlapping units cooperate to provide for interdisciplinary study of
Europe : the
Center for Western European Studies; Russian, Eastern European and Central
Asian Studies; and European Studies. The first two are title VI programs
while the third is funded through the Jackson School of International
Studies. Student interest in these interdisciplinary programs is
constantly expanding; for example, the number of majors in European Studies has
nearly tripled in three years.
As a concentration
within the European Studies program, the Hellenic Studies curriculum dovetails
with that of European Studies. [See requirements.]
Requirements include a core course, language study at the lower- and
upper-division level, study abroad, appropriate elective courses, a research
seminar followed by a senior thesis seminar. To provide the courses for
students following the Hellenic concentration, faculty in several areas
contribute their time and their courses. Our goal is to create a faculty
position in Hellenic Studies in order to strengthen the program.
- First and second year Greek
in alternate years as well as upper division study on an independent study
basis as been offered by Heracles Panagiotides, Director of the Autism EEG
Laboratory and former community college Greek language instructor since
the inception of the program. Thanks to the Greek Ministry of
Education, Paraskevi Delikari joined our Program in September 2006.
It will now be possible to offer instruction in Modern Greek at every
level each year. She will also instruct our students who will
participate in the study abroad program at the University of
Ioannina
and she is arranging for a Certification of
Attainment in Greek.
- An upper division course
tracking Greek history from 7000 BCE to the present is given by Carol
Thomas, Professor of History.
- Modern Greek history, offered
irregularly in the past, is in place for the coming four years thanks to
support from the Title VI grant to the Center for Western European
Studies.
- The EURO senior thesis
seminar is open to students of all concentrations.
- Through a five year grant
from the Onassis Foundation we have been enabled to bring to campus a
visiting professor whose work is in some aspect of modern Greek
culture. Each visitor offers an upper division course in the area of
his/her specialty during the quarter of their visit.
Visiting members of the University faculty have also enriched the
curriculum. Katerina Lagos, now Assistant Professor of Modern Greek
History at California State University/Sacramento, has offered courses in
Modern Greek History and Modern Mediterranean History. Professor Paul
Scotton helped the program greatly in 2004-5 when, as visiting professor, he
gave courses in the departments of Architecture, Classics, History, the Jackson
School of International Studies, and directed the Study Abroad program.
Approximately over two hundred students are already engaged in Hellenic
Studies courses each academic year. The number has grown steadily over the past
few years. During the academic year 2000/01, 100 students registered in
Hellenic Studies courses. In 2001-02, that number grew to 116 while in 2002-03
the number of students attending Hellenic studies courses was 129. This trend
continued until the current academic year (2008/09), when it is estimated that
a total of 230 students will register in Hellenic studies courses (for a
detailed description of the increasing enrollments in Hellenic studies courses,
please click here.)
To sustain the program we rely on several forms of support: from the
Jackson School, the Center for Western European Studies, the willingness of
departments to count courses as part of individual faculty teaching loads, and
generous outside support. The Rakus family has established funding to
enlarge our library holdings in Hellenic Studies. The Vidalakis family is
establishing a professorship in Hellenic Studies [See achievements for
further details on these two contributions.]
At the center of our plans is the effort to increase the Hellenic Studies
Endowed Fund begun with the 1998 gift in order to establish a permanent
position within the University at the core of the program.
Greek-Americans continue to be generous, the government of Cyprus has
made several annual donations, and the Greek Ministry of Education has
contributed a donation of 150,000 EUROS. Consequently the Fund is
growing. However it is not yet sufficient to create the position. A
minimum of $1,400,000 is needed. It is important to move as quickly as possible
inasmuch as several key faculty in the program are nearing retirement.
There is
sufficient evidence that the goal of the program is widely appreciated: namely
to foster an understanding of Greece throughout its long existence, the impact
of the classical legacy on other cultures, and interaction of Greece with
the vast array of other peoples who have been drawn to the country peacefully
and militarily from the Neolithic migrations to the expansion of Rome and later
that of the Ottoman Turks, to events of the two World Wars and, now, as part of
the European Union. Another measure of the widespread impact of Greek
culture is the almost constant diaspora of Greeks to other places. As
early as the Bronze Age, Greeks were active players in the international
community of the second millennium. Colonization beginning in the eighth
century BCE took them as far as the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the
southeast of Spain
with special enclaves such as Naucratis , a trading center in Egypt granted
to Greeks by the Pharaoh. With Alexander of Macedon, the diaspora
reaching to India began.
Under Rome and,
later in the Byzantine Empire
, movement turned west and north while in more recent times,
destinations stretch world-wide. Interaction with others along with the
force of Greek culture is a constant, underlying feature of Greek history.
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