Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies

(previous semesters)

   Elementary Modern Greek
HLS 101/MOG 101

This course is the first part of the modern Greek language sequence regularly offered every year. It aims to set the foundations for acquiring a command of spoken and written modern Greek. The pace is intensive: readings and grammar from textbook, with accompanying daily exercises, and regular language laboratory attendance. Auditors welcome with instructor's permission.
Dimitri Gondicas  Classes: 11:00 -11:50 a.m. MTWTh

Intermediate Modern Greek
HLS 105/MOG 105

This course is the third part of the modern Greek language sequence offered every year. It will introduce students to themes in the Hellenic tradition through readings in modern Greek literature (Cavafy, Seferis, Ritsos). We will read newspaper articles, listen to Greek songs, and study documentary films. The emphasis will be on improving students' oral and written skills. Classes will be held entirely in Greek. Auditors welcome with instructor's permission.
Staff  Classes: 12:30 -1:20 p.m. MTWTh

Freshman Seminar: Ancients and Moderns: Classics in the 20th Century
FRS 135

This seminar examines the way Ancient Greek traditions are appropriated, recycled, and redefined in works by some of the most prominent writers, artists, and filmmakers of the 20th century. These processes bring to light several of modernism’s fundamental strategies and will help us understand how modernism produces its characteristic effects. At the same time, attention to these ancient elements makes clear something deeper about the ambiguities of “the new”. Such works of art betray a continuity with tradition from which even the “absolutely modern” cannot escape. The primary materials for this seminar will be drawn from literature, visual arts, and cinema produced during roughly the first half of the 20th century. Means of presenting works of art, like literary magazines and art exhibitions, will also be carefully examined.
Efthymia Rentzou  Seminar: 1:30 - 4:20 pm  W

Byzantine Art and Architecture
ART 206/HLS 206

Art and architecture of the Eastern Mediterranean and Eastern Europe, from ca. 600 to ca. 1500. The course will focus on the art of the Byzantine empire and its capital, Constantinople, but will also consider its broader sphere of cultural influence ( Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Sicily, Venice, Serbia, Bulgaria, Rumania). The course will examine the major factors which shaped the artistic legacy of Eastern Christendom during the Middle Ages.
Slobodan Ćurčić  Lecture 9:00 – 9:50 a.m. MW

Introduction to Postclassical Greek from the Late Antique to the Byzantine Era
CLG 240/HLS 240

This course offers an introduction to the fascinating heritage and tradition of post-classical Greek literature. Its aim is to improve students' language skills by introducing them to an array of religious, rhetorical and historical texts. The course will involve study of excerpts from post-classical Greek texts, as well as some reading in English translation. It is open to all interested students with a working knowledge of Greek, classical or koine.
Christian Wildberg   Seminar: 1:30 - 2:50 pm TTh 

Modernism in Poetry
COM 328/HLS 328

 An introduction to Modernist poetry through the study of major works and authors. Inquiry into the ambiguous relationship between Modernism and the avant-garde will structure the course. Our readings will also include poetry and theoretical texts from such avant-garde movements as futurism, imagism-vorticism, dadaism, and surrealism. We will explore transformations of Modernism on both sides of the Atlantic, with special attention to poetry from "peripheral" Europe ( Portugal, Greece) and South America.
Efthymia Rentzou  Seminar: 11:00 am - 12:20 pm T Th

Comparative Ethnic Conflict
POL 356/HLS 356

This course will introduce students to the study of the causes, consequences, and possible remedies of ethnic conflict. Topics include competing theories of nationalism and ethnicity, the impact of democratization, psychology of group identification, ethnic cleansing and genocide, and conflict management. We will examine contemporary cases particularly from the former Soviet bloc, Africa, and the Middle East.
Neophytos G. Loizides  Lecture: 12:30 - 1:20 pm MW 

Special Topics in Film History: The Image of Greece in European Cinema
VIS 344/HLS 364

This seminar explores the ways in which the cinema has responded to classical Hellenic literature and culture, the Greek landscape, and ancient philosophy. There will be extensive readings of Greek works in translation. Because of the difficulty of obtaining some (but not all) of the films for this course, some screenings will be projected DVD or Videotape.
P. Adams Sitney  Seminar: 1:30 – 4:20 pm T; Film 7:30 – 10:20 pm M

The Byzantine Commonwealth: Then and Now
ART 398/HLS 398

The aim of this course is to study how Byzantium shaped its "commonwealth" and created, even on territories it never possessed, a cultural mirror of itself. Through this mirror we can take a new look at Byzantium and its impact on the formation of wider cultural patterns that persist even today. The course is not merely a medieval history of the Eastern and Southeastern European nations, but an attempt to define the early stages of formation of certain political and cultural patterns associated with Byzantium and "Byzantinisms" in the Christian Orthodox societies of Eastern Europe.
Slobodan Ćurčić and Petre R. Guran  Lecture: 1:30 – 2:50pm MW

Seminar in International Relations: Conflict Resolution
POL 440/HLS 440

This seminar will explore methods of conflict resolution in divided societies. Specifically, we will examine competing explanations for conflict and state disintegration, models of minority-group accommodation and power-sharing arrangements. Topics will also include problems of emerging democracies, the interaction between institutions and non-violent protest, and finally the role of regional and international organizations in conflict prevention and resolution. We will examine five contemporary case studies: the former Yugoslavia, Israel/Palestine, Greece/Turkey, Northern Ireland, and South Africa.
Neophytos G. Loizides  Lecture: 1:30 – 4:20 pm Th

Making of the Ottoman Balkans, 1353-1500
NES 442/HLS 442

The Ottoman Empire is traditionally viewed through a paradigm which stresses its Islamic character. In keeping with this assessment its advances into southeastern Europe from the mid-fourteenth century onward are usually portrayed as stemming from a desire to expand the frontiers of the Islamic East at the expense of the Christian West. This course will present an alternative explanation: one focusing on the extent to which the early Ottomans absorbed the peoples, practices, and nobilities of the pre-existing Christian peoples of the Balkans.
Heath W. Lowry  Seminar : 1:30 - 2:50 pm TTh

GRADUATE COURSES

Problems in Byzantine History: Formation of Byzantium 600-850: Sources & Problems
HIS 542/HLS 54 2

Between the later sixth century and the middle of the ninth century eastern Roman state, society and culture experienced a series of substantial transformations which resulted in what we call today "Byzantium." This course looks at some of the key sources for this process and analyzes both the ways in which they have been interpreted and the questions those interpretations raise. Particular attention will be paid to the issues associated with relating written textual evidence to archaeological data and interpretation.
John F. Haldon  Seminar: TBA 

New Hellenisms: Learning and Transmission of Texts in the Christian Orient
NES 594/HLS 593

The transmission of Greek philosophical and scientific literature in the Christian Orient, with special reference to the Syriac and Armenian traditions. Topics that will be discussed in detail will include: the translation movements from Greek into Syriac and Armenian (historical survey); attitudes towards translation in late antiquity; the contribution of translation literature to the formation of the Syriac and Armenian literary traditions; reactions to the hellenization of Syriac culture in late antiquity; education in the Christian Orient; and the role of monasteries as centres of learning.
Emmanuel Papoutsakis  Seminar: 1:30 – 4:20 pm M

Courses of Interest

Spring 2005 course offerings
Fall 2004 course offerings
Spring 2004 course offerings
Fall 2003 course offerings
Spring 2003 course offerings
Fall 2002 course offerings
Spring 2002 course offerings
Fall 2001 course offerings
Spring 2001 course offerings
Fall 2000 course offerings
Spring 2000 course offerings
Fall 1999 course offerings