New era in Modern Greek Studies at University of Ohio

There was a time when Modern Greek Studies at universities around the world were a top priority for every incoming Greek education minister.

Just after the turn of the millennium Modern Greek Studies Chairs were thriving at many universities internationally due to the trend of seeking out the sources of Greek culture.

For many today such chairs are viewed as a luxury and they too suffered a blow from the Greek financial crisis and their influence was limited. For Greece it became solely an issue of numbers crunching and the state distanced itself from these programmes and admirers of Greek culture were perplexed.

In the US, however, the large and strong Greek community and private donors still recall that foreign universities always had serious reasons to create chairs in the modern Greek language and culture.

Over the last years, with half a million Greeks having migrated abroad the significance of Greek studies programmes at foreign universities has grown because a new generation of Greeks need to preserve their vital ties to the Greek language.

At the century-and-a-half old Ohio State University which is known for its excellent programmes and for the fact that it has the largest number of graduates nationwide, the Greek torch has been lit once again.

The local Greek community launched a massive fundraising effort with Evangelos Marinakis and his family as basic donors. The results were impressive. One million dollars was raised to save the Chair in Modern Greek Studies where the faculty includes internationally renowned scholars, some with unique specialisations.

The Miltiadis Marinakis Chair in Modern Greek Language and Culture thus signals a new era with the reaching of the funding targets and the...

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