News from the English Department

Both semester II and summer session were a busy time for the English Department of the University of Indianapolis, Athens Campus. Students and faculty had an opportunity to attend theatrical performances, poetry readings, and a celebration of American poets in Greece as well as to travel and participate in different International Conferences in England, Greece, and the United States.

The University of Indianapolis, Athens Campus was happy to host Dr. Toni Morris, Chair of the English Department of the University of Indianapolis. She taught two courses during the summer session for the M.A. English Program: "Short Stories Collection", and "Medieval English Literature". The Medieval English Literature class was composed of mainly graduate students, though it had a handful of undergraduates. According to Dr. S. Michailidis, " This was a great experience for our master students to have a professor from the main campus, and our students in Athens really enjoyed these courses."

Splitting time between the classroom and visiting ancient Greek archeological sites and theaters, Dr. T. Morris found her stay in Athens Campus helpful and interesting. In addition to teaching classes, Dr.T. Morris, together with Dr. S. Michailidis and other UIA professors and M.A. English students, visited the ancient Greek theater in Epidavros to see Euripides' play "Bacchae."

Members of the English Department in Athens-C. Harrison, J. Vasiliou and N.Ordenova- seemed to be equally enthusiastic about meeting Dr. T. Morris and exchanging ideas about future developments of our programs.

Our M.A English student, Niki Stavrou, completed a first draft of a movie script based on Nikos Kazantzakis's autobiographical novel Report to Greco. Her effort was well received by the director of the movie, and she was asked to write the second and final draft in Los Angeles this September.

The English Department has been confirmed as a member of the Inter-Universitary Center of Theoretical and Applied Ontology, which is located in Turin, Italy. The Center is directed by Professor Maurizio Ferraris, a former pupil and co-author of the famous philosopher Jacques Derrida. The Center of Theoretical and Applied Ontology gathers several European academic and educational institutions including recently accepted the University of Paris – IV Sorbonne, and the University of Padua as new members under the purpose of fostering the study of Contemporary Philosophy, as well as the formulation of new philosophical theories.

The International Association for Greek Philosophy and Culture organized the 17 l International Conference of Philosophy on the topic " The Philosophy of Culture in the Age of Globalization." The Conference took place at the beautiful Aegean island of Samos (Pythagorean) from August 1-7, 2005. Designed as a new landmark of international cultural events, philosophical and literary exchange, this Congress was held under the aegis of the President of the Hellenic Republic and directed by the International Academic Committee. Three professors of the English Department were invited to deliver their papers: Dr. St. Sfekas on "The Philosophy of Culture in the Age of Globalization," and Dr. P. Manouka prepared her paper on philosophy, culture and archetypes in the literary works of Latin American writers. Dr . S. Michailidis, Chair of the English Department, spoke about " Beauty and the Logic of Literature". The concepts of beauty and the logic of literature have been questioned not only by philosophy, literature and literary criticism but also by the process of globalization. Dr. S. Michailidis used theories from Western and Eastern Thought concerning these two categories to argue for a new model of aesthetic experience.