Activities
The Centre will organize and sponsor in cooperation with other faculties and organizations public lectures and symposia that focus on various aspects of Greek civilization, both ancient and modern, including such topics as music, education, dance, film, literature, etc. The Centre, in cooperation with the Classics and Ancient History Department will offer a Certificate in Hellenic Studies and establish a prize for students taking UNB courses in the Modern Greek language, and in general post-classical Greece or Greek culture. In addition, a general fund for travel, conference or study grants will be established to assist students (graduate or undergraduate) in their study of Greek culture, ancient, Byzantine or modern. The goal is to generate enough funds to support a Modern Greek language instructor on an ongoing basis while the long term plan is to endow a Chair in Hellenic Studies.
Activities:
2012-2013
“SEND ME A SIGN” . Alexandros Papadiamantis’ The Murderess.
Abstract for the 2012 Colloquim of the UNB History Department by third-year Political Science student Jordan Gill.
"Contact, either as “association” or “communication”, or as the physical act of touching establishes the bonds within the community, forms relations and builds bridges. Contact also has its dark side, when it is limited, or used to harm others.
This can be seen in Papadiamantis’ 1901 novella “The Murderess”, set in a small Greek island in the turn of the 19th century. Papadiamantis, who up to this point has been neglected by many in the western literary world because of the language he chose to write in (one may say he was a victim of contact), brings us the story of a peasant woman living in Skiathos. Her name is Frankoyannou. She is a healer and a killer and someone who does not treat those two positions as either polar opposites, or mutually exclusive. Frankoyannou’s story is one about contact in the most horrifying sense of the word, but also a contact that lends great pathos towards the protagonist. Frakoyannou, a woman who has lost contact with her family, with her senses, perhaps even with her God, a soul trapped between “divine and human justice”.
In presenting one of the most important novels of Modern Greek literature, we will show how the author weaves his story using contact and its disruption or absence, as a cry against the injustice towards women and a study of humans' misinterpretation of the divine. We will also present the results of our online chat with a Greek scholar on the novel and how Papadiamantis remains a contact between cultures and generations."
2011-2012
The Mourning Stone
A Greek documentary on the town of Eleusis, where the goddess Demeter sat to mourn the loss of her daughter as well as of her favourite town; what happened to one of the most sacred sites of the ancient world when the industrial ATE blinded people with promises of "development" and "prosperity" .
A milestone in Greek cinematography, the film of Philippos Koutsaftis, still touches the hearts of audiences who think that "the only treasure we hold is memory".
Introduction by Eleni Karavanidou, Visitor fellow for the Centre for Hellenic Studies.
After the film, the audience is encouraged to gather their questions for a future skype session with the director.
Thursday, March 29th, 16.30, Carlton Hall #106
February 12, 2012
The Centre for Hellenic Studies at the University of New Brunswick Fredericton, in conjunction with the Archaeological Institute of America, NB Society will be hosting a lecture on February 12, 2012.
This will be held in Tilley Hall Room 102 (UNB Fredericton campus) whereby Dr. James Murray, Dean of the Faculty of Arts will be giving an illustrated lecture on his research in Athens entitled "In Search of Plato's Academy".
The event will begin at 6:00 pm and is open to the general public.
A reception will follow in the Alumni Memorial Building, President's Room.
Fund Raising Event
There will be a Raffle or the CENTRE FOR HELLENIC STUDIES AT UNB to be drawn on February 12, 2012.
The winner will receive a basket of items valued at $500.
Tickets are priced at 3 for $5 and are available in the Department of Classics and Ancient History Office in Carleton Hall Room 206 or by contacting Dr. Maria Papaioannou, Director of the Centre at 506-458-7508.
2009-2010
- Establishment of a Term in Athens Program.
- Establishment of the Advisory Board for the Centre and the public lecture: Dr. Maria Papaioannou, Ancient Abdera: The City of Democritos (May 15, 2010)
- Bilateral agreement with the University of Thessaloniki, student and faculty exchange program.
- Excavations in Greece 2010: Students from our Interdepartmental Archaeology Program excavating with the University of Thessaloniki (Cindy Levesque and Margaret Cornfield)
Supported by the Centre for Hellenic Studies
2008-2009
- UNB Summer Intersession course to Greece, 2008.
- Supported lectures with AIA New Brunswick Society, the Classics
Student Conference, The Gregg Centre:
-Dr. Laurel Bowman from the University of Victoria BC entitled “Reading Medea” a presentation on women in ancient Greece.
-Dr. Susan Heuck Allen (Smith College, USA), Underground: Archaeologist Spies of the Office of Strategic Services Greek Desk in World War II
