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Taste of Greece, Adelphi, Fall Semester

Professor Athanasia Biska (Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures) Instructor in Greek recently hosted the “Taste of Greece,” an event celebrating Greek culture and food. It takes place once per semester offering students the opportunity to share traditional homemade food and recipes with their classmates. Non- Hellenic heritage students have the opportunity to share flavors of their own culture. During the event, students shared funny stories of the Greek-American life and experience, presented “Greeklish” words and expressions, taught Greek traditional dances, and enjoyed Greek popular music.

Adelphi, College of Arts and Sciences News

 

Why Study The Ancient Greeks?


By Professor Mary Lefkowitz, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Wellesley College
*Published in the AHEPAN, Winter 2001
My family does not come from Greece, but whenever I return to Greece, I feel as though I have come home. I became a philhellene because when I was in the tenth grade I decided to study ancient Greek. Once I started to study ancient Greek, Ι couldn’t stop. I have never been able to learn enough about it. It’s not easy to explain why I should have become so obsessed with a language and a culture. But perhaps in the course of doing so Ι can suggest why the ancient Greeks deserve everyone’s continuing attention and respect.
Studying Ancient Greek is exciting because it brings you into direct contact with the past. The first Greek text I bought for myself was a copy of the New Testament. The original Greek was more powerful, and made better sense than the translation. But it was not until I began to read Aeschylus and Sophocles in Greek that I found that I could not be happy without studying the language. The poets can say what could not be said or perhaps even thought of in English. There are important grammatical differences. Greek verbs can convey the notion of continuous and discontinuous action, as well as of the timing of an action (past, present, future). They have a middle voice and optative as well as subjunctive. The use of personal endings and grammatical cases allows great flexibility in word order. And there are metaphors that have not survived in English, or in our way of looking at the world.
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Greek mythology and medical and psychiatric terminology

By Loukas Athanasiadis, Psychiatric Bulletin (1997), 21, 781-782 781
A great number of terms in modern psychiatry, medicine and related disciplines originate from the Greek, including pathology, schizophrenia, ophthalmology, gynaecology, anatomy, pharma cology, biology, hepatology, homeopathy, allopathy and many others. There are also many terms that originate from figures from ancient Greek mythology (or the Greek words related to those figures) and I think that it might be interesting to take a look at some of them.
Psyche means ‘soul’ in Greek and she gave her names to terms like psychiatry (medicine of the soul), psychology, etc. Psyche was a mortal girl with whom Eros (‘love’, he gave his name to erotomania, etc.) fell in love. Eros’s mother Aphrodite had forbidden him to see mortal girls. He defied her order and started seeing Psyche in the dark, while she was not allowed to ask his name or look at his face. When she disobeyed him and lit a lamp, Eros fled away. Psyche then wandered long in search of him, they were eventually united and, even better, she became immortal.
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Tobin & St. John’s College Spring 2017 Greece Program

Through the generosity of St. John’s alumnus Nikos Mouyiaris (’68), the Department of Language and Literatures in St. John’s College and the Department of Management in the Tobin College of Business offered in May 2017  this cross-disciplinary program in Modern Greek and Hellenic Studies, with a focus on Greek language, culture and international management!
Our trip was organized by Aristotle Travel!

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“It’s not Greek to them” but it is Greek for them

by Professor Nancy Biska
A new scholarship for Modern Greek Language students was presented to two students, Corey Nyhus and Dhimitra Papadhimitri, at the Honor Societies Ceremonies, April 20, 2012.
The scholarships were made available through the generosity of Mr. Theodore G. Spyropoulos, a leading personality in the Greek-American community. The students received the amount of $600 toward their tuition for the 2012-13 academic year.

Fall 2012

A «taste of Greece» at Adelphi University N.Y.

Source: ANA – MPA, Thessaloniki, 03.05.2011
The contribution of ancient Greek medicine, the importance of Greek language and harmonious coexistence with nature was highlighted through an event organized for the second consecutive year by the Greek Society of Adelphi University, entitled “A taste of Greece”. The event was coordinated by the Professors and Advisors of the Greek Student Association, Gioula Serpanos and Nancy Biska.
The proceeds from the event will be allocated to the Hellenic – American Foundation “Plant Your Roots in Greece” for the creation of a 4.000 tree grove in Delphi, named after the American University.
“We strengthen and take care of our Greek and American roots”, stated the President of the Association, Aristides Kourkoumelis in his greeting address. Expressing the pride of Greek Diaspora students on our Cultural Heritage, that they are studying and promoting to the multicultural American community he emphasized that; “The American press may publish negative articles on the Greek economy, but all of us will leave this event with our head held high and proud of what we culturally represent”.

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A Taste of Greece at Adelphi University

SAE 30.04.2010
The Greek Society of Adelphi University offered a taste of Greece to American students and professors at the University Centre of the institution in Garden city, last Tuesday.
In a hall full of students and parents, the members of the Greek Society presented videos and photographs from Greece, showing Greece’s contribution to the western civilization and the importance of restoring Greek values in our daily lives. Students Katerina Spanopoulou (President), Vicky Karatzias (Vice President), Katerina Pougiouklides (Secretary), Harry Zikos (Treasurer), Aris Kourkoumelis, Melina Giakoumis and Panayotis Lafatzis (newly elected President), presented topics on Greek mythology, philosophy, archaeology, culture and language, concluding with a brief reference to the Greek diet.
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Γεύση Ελλάδος στο Πανεπιστήμιο Adelphi της Νέας Υόρκης

(Πηγή: ana-mpa)
Γεύση Ελλάδας προσέφερε ο Ελληνικός Σύλλογος των φοιτητών του Adelphi στους Αμερικανούς φοιτητές και καθηγητές στο Πανεπιστημιακό Κέντρο του Εκπαιδευτικού ιδρύματος στο Garden City, την περασμένη Τρίτη.
Σε μία κατάμεστη αίθουσα από φοιτητές και γονείς, τα μέλη του Ελληνικού Συλλόγου παρουσίασαν Video και φωτογραφίες από Ελλάδα και ανέδειξαν τη συμβολή της στον δυτικό πολιτισμό και τη σημασία της επαναφοράς των ελληνικών αξιών στην καθημερινή μας ζωή. Σπονδυλωτά οι φοιτητές Κατερίνα Σπανοπούλου (πρόεδρος), Βίκυ Καρατζιάς (αντιπρόεδρος), Κατερίνα Πουγιουκλίδης (Γραμματέας), Χάρυ Ζίκος (ταμίας), Άρης Κουρκουμέλης, Μελίνα Γιακουμής και Παναγιώτης Λαφατζής (νεοεκλεγείς πρόεδρος) παρουσίασαν θέματα ελληνικής μυθολογίας, φιλοσοφίας, αρχαιολογίας, πολιτισμού και γλώσσας ολοκληρώνοντας με σύντομη αναφορά στην ελληνική διατροφή.
Τους τοίχους της αίθουσας του πανεπιστημιακού Κέντρου κοσμούσαν αφίσες, ενώ προβάλλονταν διαρκώς εικόνες από Ελλάδα με υλικό που παραχώρησε ο υπεύθυνος των Γραφείων του ΕΟΤ στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείας κ. Χρύσανθος Πετσίλας. Οι καλεσμένοι είχαν την ευκαιρία να γευθούν ελληνικά εδέσματα και να απολαύσουν την Ελληνική μουσική. Χρέη DJ εκτέλεσε ο φοιτητής Δημήτρης Μόνιας. Continue Reading

In Memory of Dr. Panagiotis Kokolis Scholarship

Greek News, MARCH 23RD, 2009
By Catherine Tsounis
The second “In Memory of Dr. Panagiotis Kokolis” Scholarship was awarded Tuesday evening, March 3rd at the Fifth Annual Greek Independence Day Celebration of the St. Johnʼs University Modern Greek Language and Literature Program of the Languages and Literatures Department in Council Hall.
The awardʼs criterion is based on outstanding community service and academic scholarship. Chrissa Kostadaras is this yearʼs recipient. The award of five hundred dollars was presented by Mrs. Athanasia Nancy Biska, President of the Pan Macedonian Studies Center.
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The relevance of Classic thought in the 21st century

Remarks by Ambassador of Greece, Alexandros Mallias at At “The Dynamics of The Hellenic Language” event, Capitol Washington, D.C., Friday, June 5th, 2008
Lack of symmetry, harmony and geometry in the 21st century world.
Ancient Greeks recognized that man is part of a greater whole, and it is obvious today that the safety of the world rests upon the realization that our fates are intertwined and interwoven; we are all part of a greater whole, which needs balance and equilibrium. This balance requires the blend of harmony, symmetry, geometry and a sense of measure (metron), qualities that the ancient Greeks understood better than anyone.
These qualities are explicit and mirrored in classical Greek sculpture. Ancient Greek statues and temples are all on a human scale, something which shows a profound understanding of man’s proportionate relationship to nature and the cosmos. You only have look to the Parthenon, a structure which embodies these characteristics, regrettably disrupted by the fact that the Parthenon marbles are in the British Museum.
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