Courses Offered

Master in Social and Historical Anthropology

1nd Semester
1. Social and Political History of the Ancient World (Compulsory) Anastassiadis
2. Anthropology of Religion, Ritual and Symbolic Systems (Compulsory) Paradellis
3. Theory and History of Contemporary Social Anthropology (Compulsory) Papataxiarchis

2nd Semester
4. Nations and Nationalisms: historical approaches (Compulsory) Exertzoglou
5. Economic and Political Anthropology (Compulsory) Moutafi
6. The Family in European Historiography (Compulsory) Stamatogiannopoulou

3rd Semester (Major: Social Anthropology)
7. Ethnography of Greece and Southern Europe (Compulsory for majors) Panopoulos
8. Anthropology of Kinship and Gender (Elective) Kantsa
9. Topics in Anthropology: Anthropology of Education (Elective) Plexoussaki

3rd Semester (Major: History)
10. Topics in Historical Anthropology (Compulsory for majors) Hantzaroula
11. Specific Topics in Historiography: Violence in Early Modern Times (Elective) Gara
12. Political and Social History of Modern Greece (Elective) Karavas

All courses correspond to 10 ects

Description of Courses

KIA-1. Social and Political History of the Ancient World

INSTRUCTOR: V. Anastasiadis

COURSE DESCRIPTION: A) The historiography of the economy of ancient Greece since the 19th century. The conflict between liberal and Marxist researchers of ancient economy. Home economics and relevant models of analysis. Monetarism as the starting point of an early capitalistic system. Theoretical approaches into the foundation of the institution of slavery within the framework of home economics.
B) The stratification of ancient Greek society. Conceptual models for the analysis of social grouping. The Marxist and Weberian proposal. The neo-Weberian proposals. The reconstruction of Marxist analysis by G.E.M. de Ste Croix and its acceptance by the academic community; Sociological schools and the conflict on the analysis of pre-industrial societies.
C) The presence of social discrimination in existing sources. Superior and inferior strata during the Homeric, archaic, classical and Hellenistic era. The distinctions founded on criteria of blood, wealth, status, and moral supremacy. The specification and self-conscience of social identity: the particularity of ancient societies (clash between poor vs. rich and free citizens vs. slaves). Comparison of the ancient Greek paradigm to the equivalent Roman one.
D) Slavery from its birth to its culmination in Roman times. Forms of slavery and its correlation to other manifestations of dependent workmanship. The view of political philosophers against slavery and the moral dimension of the issue. The collapse of the institution of slavery.

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KIA-2. Anthropology of Religion, Ritual and Symbolic Systems

INSTRUCTOR: Th. Paradellis

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course refers to the ways in which religious beliefs, religious and lay rituals and symbolic systems are approached, analyzed, and interpreted. Anthropological theories and approaches of religion are discussed in depth. Moreover, we also analyze systems of classification and structure of human experience, the logic of magical thought and practice, ritual practice and anthropological approaches to symbolism. Issues such as cognitive anthropology as well as the anthropology of face, emotions, and the body are also examined.

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KIA-3. Historical Approaches of nationalism and nation building

INSTRUCTOR: H. Exertzoglou

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course discusses nationalism and the nation-state in historical perspective and examines the national phenomenon as both product and factor of modernity. The aim of the course is to foreground the historicity and the complexity of the national phenomenon focusing on  the relevant theoretical controversies and examining a variety of  cases  from Europe (France, Germany, the Balkans ) and non-European areas (India, he Middle East, )with emphasis on the colonial and post-colonial times. The topics discussed in the course are  a) Nationalism, national narratives and national cultures, b) Politics, national integration, and the making of nations c) Nationalism- colonialism- post-colonialism.

ASSESSMENT: Students are expected to read a selected bibliography and prepare a final paper on a theme of their own selection.

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KIA-4. Theory and History of Contemporary Social Anthropology 

INSTRUCTOR: E. Papataxiarchis

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The aim of this course is to present momentous trends in contemporary post-Malinowskian anthropology through both a historical perspective—namely in relation to the intellectual framework of the era and the theoretical practices in relative fields—as well as from the perspective of their implementation in processing and presenting ethnographic data. Classical ethnographic monographs are analyzed as examples of anthropological attestations, like evolutionism, structural-functionalism, structuralism, exchange theory, and cultural ecology. The contemporary trends of interpretive anthropology, anthropological constructivism, and the recent post-structural reforms and exchanges with history and literary criticism are scrutinized in the light of competing points of view.

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KIA-5. Economic and Political Anthropology

INSTRUCTOR: V. Galani - Moutafi

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course includes three units. The first unit introduces the basic approaches of the concept of “economy”, examines commercial exchange, gift, and bartering, while it examines cases of anthropological attestations concerning material objects. The latter are analyzed as commercial goods from a political-economical point of view or as vehicles of symbolic meaning. The course also examines various views on the morality and symbolism of money as well as analytical approaches of consumption. The second unit covers fundamental issues in the anthropology of tourism (with an emphasis on tradition, representations of identity and the politics of heritage) and introduces, from a critical point of view, older and contemporary speculations regarding issues related to socio-economic transformation—such as, for example, the dynamics of social and cultural change and  the relationship between structure and action. The third unit analyzes the relationship between political anthropology and political science and introduces examples of non-western societies which established the core of issues dealt with in political anthropology. Finally, it examines basic approaches to the national and ethnic phenomenon and comments on relevant terms and analytical categories. Special attention is given to nationalism as a cultural process involved in the construction of identity.

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KIA-6. The family in European Historiography

INSTRUCTOR: M. Stamatoyannopoulou

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course aims at introducing historical research relevant to the history of the family along with the corresponding surveys in social anthropology. During the course, the various historiographic trends in the field of history of family in the European world are presented. The focus is on studies around the forms of settlement and domestic organization and the European model of marriage (15th-19th century), the practices of transfer and family strategies, intra-family relations, the emergence of the new conjugal culture.   

AIMS: The course is designed to make students familiar with the research in the history of kinship and family.

ASSESSMENT: Oral presentations, participation in the seminar, written essays.
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KIA-A-1. Ethnography of Greece and Southern Europe

INSTRUCTOR: P. Panopoulos

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course presents ethnographic studies of modern Greek society and other southern european societies in comparative perspective. After a brief historical review of the methodology and specific objects of the ethnographic studies in the area, we focus on some of the most important objects of study: forms and meanings of kinship, family and domestic groups, gender ideologies, the symbolism of femininity and masculinity, the cultural dynamics of politics and the construction of modern Greek local and national identities.

AIMS OF THE COURSE: In this course-seminar, we examine the ways in which anthropological perspectives have been used in the study of Greek society and other societies of southern Europe. We focus, more specifically, on the recent methodological as well as thematic developments in Greek and european ethnography which have drastically transformed the ways we approach the area.

TEACHING METHODS: Lectures, oral presentations by students.

ASSESSMENT: Oral presentations, short papers during semester, long essay by the end of semester.

KIA-A-2. Anthropology of Kinship and Gender 

INSTRUCTOR: V. Kantsa

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KIA-A-3. Topics in Anthropology: Anthropology of Education

INSTRUCTOR: E. Plexousaki

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course presents theoretical studies concerning cultural dimensions of educational process, and ethnographic research concerning practices of schooling within specific historical and cultural contexts. There will be special emphasis given in the comparative approach of societies in Southern Europe under the spectrum of the cultural meanings of the educational process and the cultural values  attached at education. We can distinguish two basic research directions in the anthropological approaches of education. The first concerns the position and the role played by the school in different societies and cultures, seen from the point of view of “cultural transmission” as it has been researched mainly by American cultural school of anthropology. From this perspective the “western” school as an official form of education in the modern world, is one of the forms of cultural transmission and the intercultural comparison of different practices of upbringing and socialization of children is the core of this approach. In this perspective, the school is conceived as a domain ruled by specific cultural codes,  the “Western” ones and specifically those of the middle class, and research questions have to do with the way specific hierarchical relations find expression in verbal and non-verbal exchanges as forms of intercultural communication at school. According to the second, the anthropological approach to education does not consist a specific anthropological issue that is based on education or schooling in “other” cultures but an analytical point of view which focuses on the school as a specific context of cultural action which takes its meaning according to the cultural content applied to terms such as “student”, “teacher”, e.t.c. The transformations that the local social structure and cultural practices undergo and their manifestation in the educational field posses an important position in this approach. A number of the latest studies focus on the daily school practices and the formation of the subjectivities of students, teachers and parents as they act in the educational field.

AIMS OF THE COURSE: Acquiring the basic theoretical tools through which school has been studied in Anthropology

Getting to know school ethnography from an anthropological point of viewProcessing of the methodological and ethical issues posed while researching educational institutions

ASSESSMENT:Short written tests during the semester, final written essay.

KIA-H-1 Topics in Historical Anthropology

INSTRUCTOR: P. Hantzaroula

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The seminar deals with historiographical questions that occupy a central place in a variety of disciplines (in particular history and social anthropology) and fields, analyzing them through an interdisciplinary perspective. The focus on concepts such as memory, temporality, testimony, culture, experience, gender, subjectivity and identity as well as on issues such as representativity, interpretation, sources, archive and narrative has contributed greatly to the transformation of history. The seminar examines historiographical practices that were distinguished for crossing the boundaries of the discipline and for providing historical method and study with new analytical tools and approaches. Oral history, history of mentalities, microhistory, gender history, history of the body and sexuality, and history of emotions challenged historiographical thought and writing through their innovative methodological, theoretical and hermeneutic perspectives.  We are going to study historiographical texts that were distinguished for their contribution to the renewal of historical method and writing.

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-To possess a wide knowledge of recent historical thinking and engage with interdisciplinary approaches.

-To acquire familiarity with the use of analytical concepts of various disciplines, especially of social anthropology, and apply them to the study of the past.

-To deepen their knowledge on historiographical methodologies and practices

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ASSESSMENT: Students submit for assessment one 2500 word essay and one 5000 word essay. Participation to the seminar (presentations, “reaction” to texts).

KIA-H-2. Specific Topics in Historiography: Violence in Early Modern Times  

INSTRUCTOR: Gara Eleni

DESCRIPTION: In the last decades, violence has been engaging increasingly the interest of social scientists and has become a privileged field of encounter and dialogue between different disciplines, especially between history and anthropology. Current research focuses on the meanings and uses of violence, the context for its onset, its multiple aspects and diverse forms and manifestations, as well as its gendered character. The course deals with the theoretical and methodological issues connected with the study of violence, the ways violence has been approached from the point of view of history, as well as with current trends of research on violence in early modern times, both as a lived experience and in regard to discourse and representation.

AIMS: The aim of this course is to introduce students to the main theoretical and methodological approaches in the study of violence, including recent trends of research, to familiarize students with the most important aspects of violence in early modern times, to introduce them to the main types of historical sources used in the study of violence and to develop further their analytical and critical reading and writing skills.

learning results: Students who attend classes, fulfill the weekly assignments and complete the required essay

· learn the main theoretical and methodological approaches to the historical study of violence,

·  become familiar with the concepts, methods and sources used in the research of violence, especially in regard to early modern times,

·  become familiar with the main academic scholarship and study major contributions on the issue,

·  learn to recognize and understand the complexity of the factors that influence the forms, meanings and uses of violence and contribute to the differentiation in its manifestations from society to society,

·  gain new knowledge on violence in early modern times and study in depth specific aspects of the issue in the course of their research paper.

TEACHING METHOD: Seminar with active student participation; use of visual and textual material, powerpoint.  

ASSESMENT: Weekly assignments (written essays and/or presentations at class) (30%); oral presentation of research paper (20%); research paper of min. 3600 words (50%).

KIA-H-3. Political and Social History of Modern Greece (from the Eastern Issue to the Macedonian Question)

Code number : SHA/H/3
Level of Module/Course (under-/postgraduate): Postgraduate
Type of Module/Course: Optional
Year of Study:  2
Semester: 3
Number of ects allocated:: 10
Νumber of teaching units: 3
Name of lecturer / lecturers: Spyros Karavas

Content outline : The aim of the course is to introduce and cover in depth the mechanisms by which the dominant Greek ideology was produced and formed, through the consequences on the country’s political practices. The process of shaping Greek arguments on “national rights”; the inability to find a meeting point between territorial ambitions and political and ethnological factors; the political availability of those whose irredentist vision had not yet been achieved; the suppression of the revolution in Macedonia; as well as the manner in which historiography warped the Macedonian Question are some of the topics that will be discussed in the course.

Learning outcomes: : Historicity of the notions and revelation of antinomies between historical sources and ideological uses of history.

Recommended Reading : a) BasicTextbooks:
Σκοπετέα Ε., Το «Πρότυπο Βασίλειο» και η Μεγάλη Ιδέα. Όψεις του εθνικού προβλήματος στην Ελλάδα (1830-1880), Πολύτυπο, Αθήνα 1988
Ματάλας Π., Έθνος και Ορθοδοξία. Οι περιπέτειες μιας σχέσης από το «Ελλαδικό» στο Βουλγαρικό σχίσμα, Πανεπιστημιακές Εκδόσεις Κρήτης, Ηράκλειο 2002
Καράβας Σ. «Μακάριοι οι κατέχοντες την γήν». Γαιοκτητικοί σχεδιασμοί προς απαλλοτρίωση συνειδήσεων στη Μακεδονία 1880-1909, Βιβλιόραμα, Αθήνα 2010

b) Additional References: Κωστόπουλος Τ., Η απαγορευμένη γλώσσα. Κρατική καταστολή των σλαβικών διαλέκτων στην ελληνική Μακεδονία, 1η έκδ. Μαύρη Λίστα, Αθήνα 2000 Λυμπεράτος Α., Οικονομία, Πολιτική και Εθνική Ιδεολογία. Η διαμόρφωση των εθνικών κομμάτων στη Φιλιππούπολη του 19ου αιώνα, Πανεπιστημιακές Εκδόσεις Κρήτης, Ηράκλειο 2009
Assessment/Grading Methods: Ten short papers touching the annotation of texts (sources) elaborated during the semester.
Language of Instruction: Greek
Μode of delivery (face-to-face, distance learning): Face-to-face