Summer 2004
ESTABLISHMENT
OF A DEPARTMENT
FOR ASIAN STUDIES IN GREECE
In
2003, the Greek Ministry of National Education and Religious
Affairs approved the
University of Athens' request for the establishment of a
Department for Asian Studies. This remarkable decision comes to
materialize the vision of the Chancellor of the University, Mr.
G. Babiniotis, who two years ago, during the official ceremony
for the publication of Galanos' Sanskrit-English-Greek
Dictionary publicly expressed his wish for the expansion of
Greek education towards the great civilizations of the East. The
new department will start with the teaching of Turkish and
gradually it will expand to include courses for South Asian,
Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian Studies.
The title of the new
department known as "Department for Turkish and Modern Asian
Studies," seems to satisfy certain political considerations
(especially the Greek-Turkish Educational Agreement) but at the
same time leaves many questions regarding the status and the
content of this Department. The newly established Department
appears to focus on the study of the modern Asian languages and
cultures, though it will be indeed very difficult to understand
Asia Today without studying its ancient roots and its long
lasting historical connections with Greece. However, the
foundation of the new department in the Capital, particularly in
the times of the academic decentralization, indicates that
Greece has started to realize the global significance of the
Asian Studies in our times.
Classical Asian Studies
could effectively be accommodated in a much easier way through
the Sector of Asian and African Studies of the University of
Crete. The above Sector that belongs to the Department of
History and Archaeology started a few years ago with the
teaching of Turkish, Arabic, and African Studies. This ambitious
programme aims to promote the recognition of Crete as a cultural
crossroad in Europe and in the Mediterranean. The crossroad
could also expand and include the teaching of Indological and
South Asian Studies. This would also address the educational
needs of the large Indian Community of immigrants who live and
work in the city of Rethymno.
Α third consideration could be the development of a
Graduate School for Oriental Studies in the North Eastern Macedonian City of
Kavala which holds traditionally very good relations with the East. This
institution could function independently or as an expansion of the
Department for Caspian Studies of the University of Thrace. The
establishment of a University Department is a long-lasting desire of all the
citizens of Kavala and its creation is expected to upgrade the educational
and the cultural level of the Cosmopolis.
Photo:
The Academy of Athens
Related Articles:
A SANSKRIT-ENGLISH-GREEK
DICTIONARY HAS BEEN
PUBLISHED
AFTER 170 YEARS.
ΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΕΙΣΑΓΩΓΗΣ ΣΤΗ
ΣΑΝΣΚΡΙΤΙΚΗ ΓΛΩΣΣΑ.
Return to Front Page
© Indo-Hellenic Society for Culture & Development