2022-23

The course consists of a general survey of the history and cultural development of the peoples of the Balkans with emphasis upon the Ottoman period until 1878. In particular, the course deals with the position of the peoples of the Balkans in the political, social, economic and cultural context of the Ottoman Empire, their intellectual development, the rise of national movements and the path towards the foundation of nation states.

During the first part of the course, lasting three weeks, the students are introduced, first, to the scholars and their work who have dealt with the history of modern Hellenism from the beginning of the historiography of the Greek nation to the present, second, to the most important scholarly institutions in which the subject is studied and promoted, third, to the academic journals, conferences and symposia that have dealt with the study of the history of modern Hellenism and, fourth, to the types of direct and indirect sources employed by scholars who deal with the subject.

The course presents the history of the so-called "Islamic world", i.e. those areas where Islam raised and prevailed. The course examines the periods of Islamic history from the pro-Islamic era in Arabia (6th c.) until the 16th century, when most of the Islamic territories are incorporated into    the Ottoman state. The course is historical and not theological, it deals with the history of regions conventionally called "Islamic world" and not with Islam as a religion.

The course deals with the basic institutions of public and private life in the Classical and Hellenistic world.  It lays particular emphasis on groups in society that did not participate directly in the political life of the polis, that is, women, children and slaves.  Subjects dealt with in previous years include personal and state religion, family life, medicine and health, the economy of Greek city-states and warfare. 

On the successful completion of the course, the student will be acquainted with the basic structure of ancient Greek society and its chief features. 

The course deals first with the explication of the formation and development over time of the concepts of semiology and semiotics as an interdisciplinary approach employed by the social sciences. The course lays particular stress on the semiotic approach to culture, through an elucidation of the concept of 'text', which, in the approach employed by Geertz, can be taken from written discourse and applied to all components of a culture.