[MGSA-L] IT’S (NOT) ALL GREEK TO US: A LOOK AT THE HELLENIC STUDIES PROGRAM - MUNCK SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

June Samaras june.samaras at gmail.com
Mon Jan 9 13:23:15 PST 2017


IT’S (NOT) ALL GREEK TO US: A LOOK AT THE HELLENIC STUDIES PROGRAM - MUNCK
SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

http://munkschool.utoronto.ca/feature/its-not-all-greek-to-
us-a-look-at-the-hellenic-studies-program/

DAVIEL LAZURE VIEIRA

What do our political institutions and drama storylines have in common?
They’re both important contributions from the Greeks. To say Greek culture
is present in our everyday lives would be an understatement. It has
provided the foundations of our democracies, introduced us to fields of
study like philosophy, astronomy and medicine, and afforded playwrights and
screenwriters with endless inspiration ever since the Antiquity.
That’s why *Themistoklis
Aravossitas <http://www.mgsa.org/faculty/aravos.html>*, a professor of
modern Greek language who teaches in the *Hellenic Studies program at the
Munk School’s Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies
<http://munkschool.utoronto.ca/ceres/study-at-ceres/>*, thinks the
expression “it’s all Greek to us” couldn’t be less accurate. “Greek culture
is already part of who we are, and what defines us. We speak Greek without
knowing it, and many aspects of our society are influenced by Greek
culture.”

The Hellenic Studies program offers modern Greek language courses as well
as a course and seminar on contemporary Greece. The idea for the program
stems from a student initiative – students successfully petitioned to have
modern Greek reintroduced at the University of Toronto in 2014 after nearly
a decade of absence – that was supported by the Hellenic Heritage Foundation
<http://www.hhf.ca/>, a Toronto-based organization dedicated to the
promotion of Greek language and culture. In April 2016 the Hellenic
Heritage Foundation committed to a *$1.75 million endowment fund to support
Hellenic Studies at U of T
<http://news.artsci.utoronto.ca/all-news/greece-world-stage-u-t-munk-school-announces-new-endowment-fund-hellenic-studies/>*,
further building an understanding of Hellenism in Canada and overseas.

“The program is an integral part of the Greek diaspora in Toronto,” says
Aravossitas. “Students learn outside the classroom by attending cultural
events in the city and engaging directly with the local Greek community.”
For instance, Greek learners were invited to speak with elders at the
Hellenic Home for the Aged, giving them a chance to practice their language
skills while bridging generation gaps.

The program welcomes undergraduates from a variety of disciplines and
includes a large number of students of Greek descent who want to learn more
about their own familial, cultural and social background. “I decided to
take a Greek language course to get more in touch with my roots and learn
my heritage language, which I didn’t learn at home,” says student Sara
Crilly. “It has been an amazing experience, and I’m now able to speak with
my grandparents. It makes them happy and it motivates me to keep learning
the language.”

In addition to language courses, the Hellenic Studies program offers a
third-year political science course and a joint graduate and undergraduate
seminar for those interested in studying Greek politics and history.
“Greece has always been at the forefront of political developments,”
explains Spyridon Kotsovilis
<http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/political-science/spyridon-kotsovilis>, a
professor of political science whose course explores current issues in
contemporary Greece. “Greece was home to one of the first successful
nationalist movements in the nineteenth century; its civil war after World
War II was a crucial moment that marked the beginning of the Cold War; it
was the first among southern European countries to democratize in the
1970s; the first among them to gain admission into the European Union – and
more recently, the first to test the EU’s financial architecture and
immigration policies. It is an important case study, not only in and of
itself, but also comparatively, from a broader European and international
perspective.”

Students have the opportunity to put theory into practice and learn
first-hand in their country of study. As part of the program’s fourth-year
seminar, they can conduct field research in Greece and meet key
stakeholders from leading think tanks, non-profit organizations and the
private sector. “When studying something that is unfolding, there’s
obviously nothing better than on-the-ground work and interviews,” says
Dominik Gora, an undergraduate student. “This experience lets me do just
that. Talking with people directly involved allows me to better understand
other points of view and get better information.” They can also enrol in a
summer course through *Woodsworth College’s Summer Abroad program
<https://summerabroad.utoronto.ca/programs/greece/#course>*, and immerse
themselves in Greek culture for five weeks in Thessaloniki, the country’s
second largest city, while gaining a deeper understanding of modern Greece
within the wider Balkan region and the European Union. The challenges to
which the Hellenic state is confronted might be great, but you can be sure
these students are ready to undertake them with herculean strength.

*January 3, 2017*




-- 
June Samaras
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877 <(905)%20542-1877>
E-mail : june.samaras at gmail.com




-- 
June Samaras
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : june.samaras at gmail.com
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