2019-20 | Rethinking Modern Greek Studies in the 21st Century: A Cultural Analysis Network

The shifting place of Greece in Europe and the Mediterranean calls for an interdisciplinary, critical, wider field of Modern Greek studies. Indeed, a recent epistemic shift in South European and Greek Studies has seen scholars employ cultural analysis, interdisciplinary methodologies and innovative participatory research to address pressing issues in Greek culture and politics. Scholarly and public debates on literature, culture, and the socioeconomic crisis, centre and periphery, identity and citizenship, have been making Greece part of important transnational discussions.

Building on the existing synergy between two vibrant research communities working on the culture of Modern Greece and South Europe in the Universities of Oxford and Amsterdam, this partnership initiates an innovative Cultural Analysis Network on Modern Greece. Its aim is to progressively widen its reach to include more countries of the European South and more universities.

In the first two events (both in 2020) we will invite applicants working on Greek or comparative topics in literature and literary cultures, cinema, cultural studies and the arts, but also history, anthropology and social studies. We especially encourage approaches that offer a self-critical understanding of their methodology, social relevance and institutional frame, as well as a critical reflection on the field of Modern Greek studies today.

Although the majority of participants will be from the universities of Oxford and Amsterdam, we strongly encourage graduate and Ph.D. students and early career scholars working on these topics from any university to participate in our events and to join our network and its future activities.

For a detailed programme of the first conference on the 31st January, 2020, please see here

For details of the presenter's abstracts for the first conference on the 31st January, 2020, please see here

The project is initially funded by the TORCH international partnerships scheme, with additional support from the Marilena Laskaridis Chair in Modern Greek Studies (Amsterdam) and the Sub-faculty of Modern Greek (Oxford).

For more information about our activities or to join our network, please contact:

Dimitris Papanikolaou (Associate Professor of Modern Greek, Oxford): dimitris.papanikolaou@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk

Maria Boletsi (Marilena Laskaridis Chair of Modern Greek Studies, Amsterdam): m.boletsi@uva.nl

and the project’s student liaison, Dr. Kristina Gedgaudaite: kg13@princeton.edu