MGSA
Modern Greek Studies Association
Prospectus for Modern Greek Studies Programs at Colleges
and Universities in
Prospectus
This Prospectus offers brief answers to some of the
frequently asked questions about Modern Greek Studies programs in colleges and
universities in
The Modern Greek Studies Association (est. 1968) is a professional association of scholars dedicated to promoting the gathering, preservation and dissemination of knowledge concerning all aspects of modern Greece and the Greek world. Interdisciplinary in scope, the association has several hundred members, including teachers, scholars, students and individuals concerned with the academic study of Greece.
The MGSA regularly receives inquiries about all aspects of Modern Greek Studies:available courses, programs of study, opportunities for research, publications and conferences. The MGSA also provides general information about the field, and directs specific inquiries to the relevant Modern Greek Studies specialists.
Modern Greek Studies is a fairly new academic field in the United States and Canada. It covers the Greek world, including the diaspora, from the fall of the Byzantine Empire (1453) to the present. The field has been growing in North America recently, 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.
The field of Modern Greek Studies covers not only
The modern Greek language has been taught at a number of colleges and universities for several decades. In the last twenty years, interdisciplinary programs covering the language, literature, culture, history and politics of modern Greece have been established at several North American Universities.
There are now over 25 colleges and universities in North
America with programs in Modern Greek Studies. These programs cover a wide
range of subjects at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and offer a
variety of certificates and degrees, from an undergraduate major, minor or
certificate in Modern Greek Studies, to an M. A. or Ph.D. degree. Many of these
programs also sponsor regular academic conferences, graduate and post-doctoral
fellowships, dissertation and translation prizes, and endowed lectures, as well
as publish Modern Greek Studies journals and books.
In most cases, academic institutions offer Modern Greek Studies programs centered on the teaching of modern Greek language and culture. These subjects are usually taught in humanities departments, such as Modern European Languages and Literatures, Classics, Comparative Literature, Near Eastern Languages or Slavic Languages. MGS programs have also been established by social scientists, who may be specialists in modern Greek history, anthropology or political science, appointed in departments of their respective disciplines.
More developed MGS programs exist as interdepartmental entities that coordinate language classes and facilitate the collaboration of scholars in different departments. In certain research universities, MGS programs are part of programs in Hellenic Studies, that cover the Greek world from antiquity through Byzantium to the present.
Finally, institutions without formal MGS programs may offer occasional courses in the Greek language or some aspect of Greek society, depending on student demand and the availability of faculty with expertise in the Modern Greek Studies field.
The reason for this range of programmatic arrangements lies
in the field's institutional history. In contrast to Europe, where for nearly
two centuries Modern Greek has been part of the systematic philological and
historical study of Greece from antiquity to the present, in North America
Modern Greek Studies emerged as a field of interest to modernists -- mostly
literary critics, translators and historians, but also classicists, byzantinists, anthropologists and political scientists who
studied the history and culture of Modern Greece. Thus, Modern Greek Studies
began, and continues to thrive in
The core courses for undergraduates in Modern Greek Studies are modern Greek language, literature and culture.
General liberal arts courses for undergraduates may encompass the history of modern Greece; Greek literature in translation; the culture of contemporary Greece (politics and society, history, language, popular culture and the arts); as well as the history, literature and culture of the Greek diaspora in America.These courses are often comparative in nature, focusing on modern Greece in a Balkan, Mediterranean, Near Eastern or European context. Upper level undergraduate courses typically focus on literature (in the original language), topics in history, literature and culture, Greek language for advanced students or modern Greek linguistics.
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 ethnographies may be taught in courses on life rituals, or on Mediterranean cultures;Greek novels may be studied in a course on literature of diasporas;Greek poetry 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.
A graduate curriculum typically includes advanced courses on Greek literature, linguistics, history, culture and society. Other graduate seminars may focus on topics such as nationalism, multiculturalism, post-colonialism, minorities, constructions of self and other, the Classical tradition, and other themes.
There is no one student constituency for courses in Modern
Greek Studies. Language courses depend in part (about 50%) on the interest of
Greek American students. Undergraduate courses in contemporary Greek culture,
Greek literature in translation, and Greek America attract a general population
of students in the humanities.Upper level
undergraduate and graduate courses attract students of Greek heritage or those
from
The four significant student constituencies are: (1)Students of non-Greek backgrounds who have cultivated an interest in modern Greece or the Greek experience in America, often as a point of comparison with other cultures (e.g. the Balkans or the Mediterranean) or as a complement to the study of the Hellenic tradition in Classical Greece or Byzantium; (2)Americans of Greek ancestry who wish to pursue a systematic study of the Greek language or culture for academic or personal reasons; (3)Students majoring in Comparative Literature and ESL students who select Modern Greek as a second target language;and (4) Greek or Cypriot nationals studying in North America.
Offers direct access to information, and includes listings
of MGS programs, as well as faculty and administrators in
Available on the MGSA Web site or in hardcopy from the MGSA Office.
Includes information on activities, publications and membership, and is available from the MGSA Office.
Professor S. Victor Papacosma
Executive Director, MGSA
Tel.
330-672-0910
Fax
330-672-4025
Email: mgsa@kent.edu
MGSA
