Taking Greek studies out of the box
MGSA symposium draws attention to fascinating pathways of academic exploration
The first, in 1969, was about modern Greek literature and its relationship with its European peers. The second, in 1971, focused on the Greek War of Independence, delving into thorny issues like the collaborationists, while the fifth, in 1976, examined the Greek experience in America. It was the sixth international symposium of the Rhode Island-based Modern Greek Studies Association (MGSA) in 1978, themed “Greece in the 1940s,” that confirmed its scope. It was so wide, in fact, that the two-year symposium scrapped the idea of having a central theme in 1995.
“For the association to broach the subject of the Greek Civil War at a time when it was not even being discussed at Greek universities was pretty bold,” explains the president of the MGSA, historian Katerina Lagos. “Ever since, the association has examined an array of less or more controversial issues, from an ever-expanding range of scientific fields. Pluralism is welcomed by the association and reflects the breadth of fields that have emerged.”
Indeed, the program of talks at the MGSA’s 28th international symposium, taking place October 17-20 at Princeton University, is vast, ranging from the “technology” in the Stoa of Attalos by Princeton’s Iason Stathatos and the cultural and political significance of the souvlaki from the Metapolitefsi to the present by Franklin Hess of Indiana University Bloomington, to the “Untapped Material of the Katsimbalis Archive” by Vasiliki Lampropoulou from the University of Cyprus and the social realism of cinema’s Weird Wave by Dimitris Papanikolaou from the University of Oxford.
Lagos, who is a professor of history and head of the Greek Studies program at the University of California, will moderate a panel on “Andreas Papandreou, PASOK and Post-Junta Greece.” This year’s 50th anniversary of the founding of the socialist party makes the panel with Lamprini Rori, Harris Mylonas and Panagiotis Zestanakis particularly apt.
‘For the association to broach the subject of the Greek Civil War at a time when it was not even being discussed at Greek universities was pretty bold’
“I think it deserves more attention at this special time and I know that certain papers are being written about PASOK and about Andreas Papandreou,” says Lagos, adding that the declassification of many records in the United States means that researchers have access to archives that were formerly restricted and this will lead to “publications that were not possible before, on many sensitive political, economic and military subjects.”
Another panel Lagos will head is about the history of Thessaloniki’s Jews and it will include a presentation of new evidence regarding their displacement, gleaned from research into back copies of the Government Gazette.
“There’s been an increase in studies on the survivors of the Holocaust and on their return journey to Greece and other homelands in recent years, while there are also studies being conducted on children during the Holocaust,” says Lagos.
The keynote address, however, will be delivered by Elizabeth A. Davis, a professor of anthropology at Princeton, and it will be on “The Uses and Abuses of a History of Conflict: Context and Recursion in Cyprus, 2024.”
Lagos explains that the symposium’s administrators decided that it was important to shine a light on those tragic events of 1974.
“Cyprus,” she says, “was a victim of events between Greece and Turkey, and the ongoing division of the island reinforces the trauma of the invasion. During the bicentennial of 1821, a shift in interest towards the Greek Revolution led to an increase in related publications; I hope something similar will happen with this anniversary as well.”
Is this something we can hope for, given the apparent waning of interest in Greek studies worldwide? Lagos responds that it’s not just Greek studies, but all humanitarian studies that we should be concerned about.
“As far as Greek studies is concerned, our scientific interests are much broader and much more relevant to modern-day issues than most people think,” she says. “Just think about the migration issue or climate change; Greece is at the forefront of both. So maybe it’s time for Greek studies to stop being put in specific boxes and to be understood in much broader terms.”
