JSIS A 494
Introduction to research into European topics and to the analysis of problems.
Greece and Europe: Changing Relations
The Western orientation of modern Greece lies at the heart of the national myth envisaged by Greece’s founding fathers, when they set the basis for the building of a modern polity and a modern nation-state along Western lines in the late 18th and early 19th century centuries. The powerful appeal that Western Europe and its democratic institutions exerted on the imagination of modern Greece’s founding fathers was the key factor behind the transformation of the multilingual and multicultural community of the southern Balkans into the modern Greek nation. However, Greece’s Westernization was disapproved of by the Orthodox Church, which opted for a return to the pre-national Orthodox Eden. Also, Greece’s European apprenticeship was and is still being criticized as troubled, prolonged and incomplete by Western Europeans and Greek Westernizers alike, especially when the modern Greeks are believed to have lapsed into ‘un-European’ conduct, the most recent such example being, perhaps, the Greek fiscal crisis. Focusing on the political, social, economic and cultural history of modern Greece, this course is an interdisciplinary exploration of the various aspects of Greece’s European apprenticeship as well as of its troubled and changing relationship with Western Europe from the late 18th century to the present. Various primary and secondary sources will be used to illustrate this relationship. All primary and secondary sources will be in English translation. No prior knowledge of modern Greek history is required.
Student learning goals
1. The class will introduce students to modern Greek history and will enable them situate it within a European context.
2. The class will also help students better understand contemporary Greek events, such as the Greek fiscal crisis, through an exploration of the troubled relationship between Greece and Europe during the past three centuries.
3. In this class students will further strengthen their analytical and writing skills through papers they will write.
4. Students will also further strengthen their public speech skills through oral presentations they will do in class.
General method of instruction
Lecture and discussion
Class assignments and grading
In class presentations by students, short response papers and longer papers.
Standard grading system.