2015 Symposium of the Modern Greek Studies Association

The Center for Hellenic Studies is very pleased that Georgia State University has been selected to host the 24th symposium of the Modern Greek Studies Association. The biennial conference, to be held on campus October 15–18, 2015, is the meeting of the largest professional organization for Hellenic Studies in the world. Some two hundred international scholars are expected to attend the conference, which typically features more than eighty presentations, a keynote address, music concerts, film screenings, and more. Some of the program highlights will be announced well in advance on the program’s website, which can be accessed via www.mgsa.org.

MGSA Symposium 2015
The 24th biennial Symposium of the Modern Greek Studies Association
October 15-18, 2015
Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia

The Symposium will be hosted by the MGSA’s Local Arrangements Committee, headed by the Center for Hellenic Studies’ own Dr. Louis A. Ruprecht, and consisting of members of the Center’s Executive Committee, Global Studies Institute and the Center for Collaborative & International Arts (CENCIA).

This Committee collaborates with the MGSA’s Program Committee and Executive Board to present a 2½ day program of scholarly presentations and other exciting events. The public is most welcome to attend, but advance registration is advised.

Most of the conference presentations will be housed at the Loudermilk Conference Center, 40 Courtland Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30303.

Keynote Speaker

Yannis Hamilakis, Professor of Archaeology at Southampton University, will give the keynote address at the Symposium on Friday, October 16, 2015.

Professor Hamilakis’ interdisciplinary and critical approach to archaeology, material culture, and the political uses of archaeological work as well as his dynamic engagement with today’s events promises an exciting and important talk. In addition, Professor Hamilakis will be available throughout the symposium for further conversation with attendees. The title of his keynote address and a brief abstract will be circulated in due course.

The keynote lecture will be held at the Speakers Auditorium. Additional events will be free and open to the public.

Conference Accomodations

Several nearby hotels are offering special rates for MGSA Symposium attendees:

The Ellis Hotel
$134/night
176 Peachtree St NW
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 523-5155

The Courtyard
$134/night
133 Carnegie Way
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 222-2416

Residence Inn
$149/night
134 Peachtree St NW
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 522-0950
1 (800) 331-3131

Sponsorship Opportunities

On behalf of the Modern Greek Studies Association of North America (MGSA), we ask you to consider making a financial contribution to the 24th International Symposium to be held at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA, on October 15-18 2015. Your gift will make it possible for graduate students whose abstract has been accepted to participate fully in the Symposium. Graduate students constitute the future of our field, but they face severe challenges in finding academic employment in the current economic climate. More specifically, we seek to raise $9,000 for our graduate student travel fund, which will allow us to award a $300 travel grant to 30 graduate students. Your contribution of any amount would be most appreciated and would, of course, be acknowledged in our Symposium program and on the MGSA website.

The biennial MGSA Symposia attract some 100 to 150 neohellenists from around the world, who present their research findings related to modern Greece. Members of local and regional Greek communities in North American share in the academic and cultural activities surrounding the Symposia. Approximately one fifth of the total number of presenters are graduate students. Our last, highly successful Symposium, hosted by Indiana University in October 2013, saw some twenty truly stellar graduate student presentations. Each presenter was supported by an MGSA travel grant of $300. These (modest) travel grants have become critical given today’s shrinking university support for graduate student research and travel.

The biennial MGSA Symposium is one of the MGSA’s highly acclaimed initiatives. First organized in 1968, the Symposium is as old as the MGSA and is, like all initiatives of our volunteer- driven professional association, organized by scholars in North

America representing the human and social sciences, the arts and professional schools. In addition to the Symposia, the MGSA publishes the well-reputed Journal of Modern Greek Studies. Issued biannually by Johns Hopkins University Press and now entering its fourth decade of uninterrupted publication, the Journal of Modern Greek Studies has become the flagship interdisciplinary journal in our academic field. The biennial Workshop on Modern Greek Language Instruction exemplifies those activities of the MGSA that focus on undergraduate instruction and resource development. The next such workshop for teachers of Modern Greek language, literature, and culture will be held in fall 2014 at Yale University. We encourage graduate students to take part in all these initiatives, for they will become the MGSA’s next cohort of active members. (For additional information on the MGSA and its many other activities, please browse further through our website and consult the section “Initiatives” among others.)

We sincerely hope that you or your organization will consider making a financial contribution to support graduate students presenting papers at the next MGSA Symposium. A gift of $300 will support one student. A gift of $9,000 will cover the entire expense. We value our sponsors and hope to be able to count you among them. Of course, all donations are tax-deductible (Gonda Van Steen and Louis Ruprecht are eager to discuss the practical details with you). Please accept our sincere gratitude for the interest you take in our activities.

Yours faithfully,

The Officers and Executive Director of the MGSA and

Louis Ruprecht, Chair of the 2015 Local Arrangements Committee