# Newsletter Vol. 22 March 04, 2014 ## Recent events ### Events Series 2014 is underway On Wednesday, January 15, 2014, CHS GR hosted Stelios Virvidakis, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy and History of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Professor Virvidakis gave a lecture in the Center’s “Nikos Mazarakis Family Lecture Hall” entitled “The Aristotelian concept of virtue and its contemporary revivals”. Tassos Karakatsanis, Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy, Department of Philosophy and History of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, was the respondent. At the reception after the lecture the traditional vassilopita (“New Year cake”) was cut, and the lucky piece fell to an alumna of the Center’s High School Summer Program. She won the CHS publication Recapturing a Homeric Legacy– and a coffee cup from the Peloponnesian Folklore Museum. This was the third consecutive year in which the Center worked with the Municipality of Argos – Mycenae in its Events Series. Aristotelis Mentzos, Professor of Byzantine Archaeology, Department of History and Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, spoke on “The concept of antiquity in Byzantine sculpture”. The lecture took place in the auditorium of the Argolis Chamber of Commerce, in Argos, on February 5, 2014. Yiannis Theoharis, an archaeologist at the Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, acted as respondent. Cooperation with all municipalities in Argolis and local institutions is one of the Center’s priorities; the CHS GR would therefore like to thank especially the Municipality of Argos – Mycenae for their cooperation and the Chamber of Commerce for the hospitality. On Wednesday, February 26, Yiannis Leontaris, theater director and Assistant Professor of Film Theory at the Department of Theater Studies, School of Fine Arts, University of the Peloponnese, delivered a lecture at the Center’s “Nikos Mazarakis Family Lecture Hall”. The topic was “The aesthetics of reception and the film spectator: from the ‘beauty’ of the portrait to the ‘malformation’ of facial deformity”. The lecture involved cooperation with the Department of Theater Studies, University of the Peloponnese. ### Gregory Nagy delivers a lecture co-organized by the Center for the Odyssean Studies and CHS GR In January Gregory Nagy, Harvard Professor and Director of the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C., delivered a lecture which was co- organized by the Center for the Odyssean Studies and the CHS GR. The lecture, entitled “Was there a future for the Phaeacians of the Homeric Odyssey?”, took place in the auditorium of the Archaeological Association at Athens. The audience included participants in the online HeroesX. ### Applications for the High School Summer Program 2014 are invited The High School Summer Program 2014 will be launched in July. Students are invited to submit their applications electronically by March 31. This year, as part of the cooperation between the Society for the Promotion of Education and Learning and the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, two students from Arsakeia Schools will attend the program, in addition to students from the Argolis region. The names of the Harvard undergraduates who will serve as teaching fellows for the program will be announced next month. A joint committee from Harvard University and the Center in Washington will select the student participants by May. ### CHS representatives attend Harvard Abroad workshop in Cambridge, MA The 7th annual Harvard Abroad workshop in Cambridge, which took place on January 31, focused on the international relations of the university. Organized by the office of Harvard’s Vice Provost for International Affairs, the event was sponsored by the Provost. Representatives from both CHS GR and DC had an opportunity to meet with professors, administrators, and directors of the university’s international centers and to discuss Harvard’s current and future activities in Greece and other EU countries. ### Officers of CHS DC and GR visit the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs In January, Gregory Nagy, Harvard Professor and CHS DC Director, Anna Stavrakopoulou, CHS GR Associate Director, and Christos Giannopoulos, CHS GR Executive Manager, met with Κonstantinos Arvanitopoulos, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, to brief him on the Center’s activities and programs in Greece and the U.S. ### CHS GR outreach initiative for high school educators in Argolis On Friday February 21, the CHS GR held a teleconference with the Office of School Counselors/Academic Coordinators of Secondary Education in Argolis. The discussion was devoted to “Exchanging good research practices between CHS GR programs and the research projects of Greek lyceums”. School counselors/scientific coordinators, together with student team-coordinators, represented the Secondary Education Office of Argolis. Nicolas Prevelakis, the CHS GR’s Summer Programs Director, and program alumni represented CHS GR. ### January Term Program was a success The January Term Program in Greece, which was organized by the Center in Washington, was a success. A team of students from American and non-American universities had the opportunity to visit archaeological sites in Crete, Argolis, and Attica. The program focused on the Neolithic and other prehistoric periods. The study tour was led by Professor Gregory Nagy, Director of the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C. and Kenny Morrell, Professor of Classical Studies at Rhodes College, TN. ### CHS GR Director on sabbatical leave Ioannis Petropoulos, Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece Director, is on sabbatical leave. Last semester he taught a postgraduate course as a visiting professor at the University of Sao Paolo, Brazil, and another course under the sponsorship of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation at Stanford University. He is currently conducting research at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C and will resume teaching in Brazil in the coming months. ## Upcoming Events ### Harvard Alumni Association gearing up for annual trip to Greece CHS GR will provide organizational support for the Harvard Alumni Association’s annual trip to Greece (March 14 – 22) led by Gregory Nagy. The tour will provide an opportunity for Harvard alumni and Harvard undergraduate and graduate students to visit key historical and archaeological sites in Greece. CHS GR will host this year’s participants while in Nafplion. ### Marathon race to be held in Nafplion: March 2014 On March 23, 2014, the Municipality of Nafplion, in collaboration with the Greek Federation of Athletics, the Regional Government of the Peloponnese, and the Association of Marathon Runners, will hold a marathon race in Nafplion. The Ministry of Culture and Athletics will be lending it auspices. The CHS will be organizing educational events for the wider public during the 3-day sporting weekend. ### ‘Events Series’ 2014 in April and May The Center’s next lecture will take place in the Municipality of Ermionida on Wednesday, March 12, 2014, in the auditorium of the General Lyceum of Kranidi. Georgios Tsomis, Assistant Professor of Ancient Greek Philology, Democritus University of Thrace, will formulate the topic “The ‘return’ of ancient Greek tragedy: Aristotle, Euripides and the birth of opera (late 16th, early 17th century) (late 16th early 17th century)”. The respondent will be Michael Richard Seibel, Stage and Opera director (Master of Arts), Professor of Acting, The “Mary Vogiatzi – Tranga” School of Drama. Two lectures will be given in April. Historian and archaeologist Antigoni Zournatzi, Head Researcher in the National Research Foundation, will speak on April 9, 2014. The event, held in collaboration with the Harvard Club of Greece, will take place in the Center’s lecture hall in Nafplion. Vasileios Lamprinoudakis, Professor of Classical Archaeology in the Department of History and Archaeology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, will speak on April 30 in the Municipality of Epidaurus. The event has been organized in collaboration with the Society for the Promotion of Education and Learning. Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)