Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies

Kimberly Bowes (Fordham University)
211 Dickinson Hall
Reception to follow

Reading packets are available in the Departments of History and Classics or by contacting Daniel Schwartz at dlschwar@princeton.edu.

Richard Payne, Daniel Schwartz, Jack Tannous
Department of History

Syria and Lebanon possess an unusually rich variety of archaeological remains from Late Antiquity. The presentation of the steps of a recent trip will provide an overview of the key sites from the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, highlighting the amalgamation of cultures – Hellenic, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic – that transformed the Levant between the fourth and eighth centuries.

Daniel Schwartz is a graduate student in the Department of History. His dissertation title is "Christian Education and Worship in the Making of the Late-Antique Church: Paideia and Cult in the Catechetical Orations of Theodore of Mopsuestia."

Jack Tannous is a graduate student in the Department of History. His dissertation title is "On the trail of la Syrie trilingue: Jacob of Edessa and His Circle."

Richard Payne is a graduate student in the Department of History. His dissertation title is "The Rise of Islam and Christian Society in Iraq."

Arion Melidonis (Department of Anthropology)
Scheide Caldwell House, Room 103

Interethnic conflict and violence has segregated Turkish and Greek Cypriots for more than forty years. In April of 2003, however, the "Green" line separating southern "Greek" Cyprus and northern "Turkish" Cyprus was opened for the first time since the war that divided them in 1974. The re-opening of the border also allowed for the re-opening of memory and trauma. This paper explores the experiences of both Turkish and Greek Cypriots as they cross the newly opened border and are confronted with the forgotten memories, histories, and violence of the "other side." It investigates the relationship between memory, violence, and the political and considers possibilities for reconciliation on the island.

Arion Melidonis is a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology, writing a dissertation on "Criss-Crossing the Green Line." He is a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson School and a Religion and Public Life fellow at the Center of the Study of Religion. His ethnographic research focuses on the conflict in Cyprus and looks specifically at how the opening of the "Green" line border has impacted understandings of national, ethnic, and religious belonging, as well as feelings of wellbeing and security on the island. [Last Updated 2006]

Directed by Tassos Boulmetis, 2003
Madison Hall, 201 Rockefeller-Mathey Theatre
(In Greek and Turkish, with English subtitles)

"A Touch of Spice" is a story about a Greek boy (Fanis) growing up in Constantinople/Istanbul. His grandfather, a culinary philosopher and mentor, teaches him that both food and life require a little salt to give them flavor; they both require...A Touch of Spice. Political troubles force the family to move to Athens, leaving the grandfather behind. Fanis grows up to become an excellent cook and uses his cooking skills to spice up the lives of those around him. Thirty-five years later, and by now an astrophysics professor, Fanis travels back to his birthplace, to reunite with his grandfather and his first love. He returns only to realize that he forgot to put a little bit of spice in his own life.
Running time: 108 minutes.

Winner of eight national film awards in Greece. Audience Award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, 2004.

Food as passion. Food is the lifeblood of humanity, garnishing tender moments and adding pizzazz to personal experience. The plot device surfaces again in "A Touch of Spice," a semi-autobiographical dramady by writer/director Tassos Boulmetis. This Greek/Turkish subtitled feature [is] rooted in novel narratives and sweeping, dreamlike cinematography.
The Herald Tribune