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PrincetonUniversity |
Program in Hellenic StudiesThe Program in Hellenic Studies offers Princeton students an opportunity to study, in an interdisciplinary context, the language, literature, history, politics, culture, and art of Greece, one of the most enduring and influential areas of civilization. In premodern times Greece was home to two worldsthe ancient and the Byzantinethat have shaped our conception of self and state. In the modern era the country has played a crucial role as the crossroads between Western Europe, the Balkans, and the Near East. Also, during the 20th century, Greece produced a number of writers of international standing, including two Nobel laureates. The Program in Hellenic Studies sponsors a curriculum of freshman seminars, core courses, and upper-level seminars regularly taught by program faculty. Program participants tailor their academic program to their individual interests by taking program-sponsored courses and cognates in addition to their departmental course work. Students from all University departments are welcome to join in the program. All Hellenic studies classes are small, with an emphasis on one-to-one advising at every stage of the student's academic career. Reading courses are frequently organized for the benefit of students with specialized needs. Our senior seminar, "Great Cities of the Greek World," is highly recommended for all program concentrators. Each year focusing on a different city (Athens, Thessaloniki, Constantinople, Alexandria, among others.) and taught by different faculty members from several departments, this interdisciplinary course aims to attract students from various academic disciplines and to encourage in-depth study of the history, architecture, culture, and literary and artistic depiction of important urban centers of the Hellenic world from antiquity to the present. In most years the class will travel over midterm break to the city under study for on-site research and exploration. There are three plans of study under the Program in Hellenic Studies: 1. Plan A is intended for students interested in modern Greek language and literature. A typical student in this plan is expected to achieve proficiency in modern Greek in order to study modern Greek literature in the original and in the comparative context of other contemporary or earlier literary traditions. 2. Plan B is for students who are interested in a broad interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspective on modern Greek society in its European Community, southern European, Near Eastern, Mediterranean, and/or Balkan contexts. 3. Plan C provides a diachronic perspective on the Hellenic worldclassical, Byzantine, and/or modern. Students address questions of transmission and reception of the classical tradition, continuity or discontinuity of culture, tradition, and change, and formation of identity through the ages. The senior thesis is the culmination of the academic work for program students, who are expected to apply their training in a humanistic or social science discipline to some aspect of the Hellenic world. Recent thesis topics have included: "In Deep Water: The Greco-Turkish Dispute over the Aegean Continental Shelf," "The Rise to Power of Socialist Parties in Southern Europe in the Early 1980s," "Visions of History: The Poetry of W. B. Yeats and C. P. Cavafy," "The Power of Persuasion: American Intervention in Greek Politics, 1950–1964," "Christian Readings of Homer in Byzantium from the Fourth to Twelfth Century," "Constantine the Great and Christianity," and "The Ambo of the Rotunda in Thessaloniki: A Study of the Early Byzantine Ambo in Northern Greece." Students majoring in the natural sciences or engineering may submit a long research paper (on an approved topic) in lieu of the senior thesis. Every year, the program awards a senior thesis prize. Students in the Hellenic studies program may choose an adviser from among a large number of faculty members with a specialization in Greek studies. They represent a broad range of disciplines from many University departments, including anthropology, art and archaeology, classics, comparative literature, economics, English, history, music, Near Eastern studies, philosophy, politics, religion, sociology, the Program in Creative Writing, and the Woodrow Wilson School. A list of these faculty members is available in the program office at 58 Prospect Avenue. Program concentrators participate in a senior thesis colloquium to discuss work in progress and methodological issues in Hellenic studies. A weekly Hellenic studies workshop and a public lecture series on all aspects of Hellenic studies, with the participation of Princeton faculty and program-sponsored visitors from Greece, are open to all interested members of the University community and contribute to the intellectual life of the program. Upon satisfactory completion of all program requirements, concentrators are awarded a certificate in Hellenic studies in recognition of their work in the program. The Program in Hellenic Studies offers students an opportunity to supplement their academic work at Princeton with summer travel, study, and research in Greece. Fellowships are available for qualified students who travel to Greece to take language classes, do excavation work, attend summer programs, or pursue independent research, or who participate in exchange programs with Greek institutions or in Princeton Summer Seminars in Greece. Hellenic culture has often been an inspiration for, a reflection of, or a reaction to Western and Eastern cultures and values. Whether a student is interested in a self-reflective humanistic education or in an area of specialization relevant to the social sciences or international affairs, he or she will be well served by joining our exciting interdisciplinary program. Additional up-to-date information may be found on our Web site at www.princeton.edu/~hellenic/. |