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Modern Greek Studies

Finis Greciae or the Return of the Greeks*

As of 2010, Modern Greek will be offered at Monash University through the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics. The units of this growing strand of study were introduced following a passionate student campaign and under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Education. Students with no previous knowledge of Greek can opt for a sequence in Greek Beginners, while advanced learners are advised to enrol in post-VCE Greek.

Postgraduate Studies in Modern Greek are available for suitably qualified candidates.

The nascent discipline of Modern Greek offers students a unique opportunity to indulge in the Greek language and culture which has exercised a definitive influence in Australian society. The units are designed so to equip students adequately for a number of professional prospects arising in the Australian Greek communities, but, also, internationally, either in the Greek Diaspora or in mainland Greece.

Marilyn Rouvelas writes in her book A Guide to Greek Traditions and Customs in America (p.355):

For generations, seagoing Greeks told stories to their families of faraway places where their ships had docked. These stories invariably included meeting patriótes (fellow countrymen) in restaurants and at card tables in exotic places. Years ago these chance encounters seemed wondrous. A Greek could travel halfway around the world and find a fellow Greek speaking the mother tongue and sharing common friends and relatives from a village or town in Greece. These transplanted Greeks comprised the Greek Diaspora still thriving throughout the world. According to a Greek government ministry, “[M]ore than five million Greeks (or more than half of Greece’s domestic population) live outside of Greece’s borders.”

The offerings for 2010 are as follows:

GRK1010/GRK2010

Semester 1

Synopsis: The unit introduces Modern Greek to students who have no previous knowledge of the language. It explores grammatical and syntactic structures suitable to the Beginners level and facilitates the students in their understanding of the Modern Greek culture.

GRK1020/GRK2020

Semester 2

Synopsis: The unit continues to introduce more advanced linguistic phenomena of Modern Greek to students who have previously attended and successfully been examined on Modern Greek 1 (GRK1010/GRK2010).

GRK1050/GRK2050

Semester 1

Synopsis: The unit introduces Modern Greek literature to students with considerable previous knowledge of the Greek language. It delves into the literary tendencies of Modern Greek writing and follows the Greek language through its manifold phases of evolution.

GRK1060/GRK2060

Semester 2

Synopsis: The unit introduces Modern Greek literature to students with considerable previous knowledge of the Greek language. It delves into the literary tendencies of Greek literature and teaches students of older forms of the language and their historical evolution. The topics and authors chosen for study complement those taught in GRK1050/GRK2050 following a chronological order. GRK1060/GRK2060 focuses on literary texts produced in the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century.

MODERN GREEK FOR NON-ARTS STUDENTS

Non-Arts students can still study Modern Greek units as electives in their second or third year of study. Hence, they need to opt for GRK2010 (Greek Beginners, Sem.1) and GRK2020 (Greek Beginners, Sem.2) or GRK2050 (Post-VCE Greek, Sem.1) and GRK2060 (Post-VCE Greek, Sem.2).

Contact Details

For further information, please visit the following website:

http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2010handbooks/aos/arts-ug-modern-greek.html

or contact the Program Convenor:

Dr Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides

Alternatively, you can contact the School Office of the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics by calling 9905 2281/2223 or email lcl.enquiries@arts.monash.edu.au

Interesting Links

ΥΠΕΠΘ :

Education Office - Consulate General of Greece :

Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας / Centre for the Greek language:

ΕΔΙΑΜΜΕ (Diaspora Education):

*This is the title of an article by George Prevelakis http://www.transcomm.ox.ac.uk/working%20papers/prevelakis.PDF

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