On Monday 12th September, the Greek Association at Macquarie University- MUGA, hosted an interesting lecture on Appropriation and Assimilation: Greece's Northern Frontier, European Neighbourhood and Diasporic Community’.
The guest lecture speakers were Dr. Elizabeth Kefallinos, Head of Modern Greek Studies at Macquarie University and Dr. Panayiotis Diamadis, Vice President of the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
The lecture was attended by Consul General of Greece in Sydney- Dr. Stavros Kyrimis, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh to Australia- Kaylar Michaelian, President of the Pontian Brotherhood of NSW- Mrs Helen Macris and teachers from the Department of Modern Greek- Ioannis Kalaitzidis and Patricia Koromvokis.
Dr. Elizabeth Kefallinos brought up an interesting discussion on the “Model of Experience”. To explain the term, she used the Acropolis Museum as an example. “The aesthetic miracle of the Acropolis Museum touches your heart as you leave richer in knowledge. The experience is a strong personal and experimental relationship which based in the feelings and the impressions, remain in memory,” she said.
To conclude her speech Dr. Kefallinos stated that “Greece is really a very rich county, with an extraordinary, of thousands of years, culture that has written in her soil; it has an astonishing climate and dreaming nature.”
The second guest speaker Dr. Panayiotis Diamadis emphasised the role of History in Politics as “you cannot separate the two” as they influence each other. Additionally, he defined the term “politics,” which comes from the Greek word “πόλη” meaning “the daily life of the city.” However, Dr. Diamadis further states that “politics is not just a city, or a country, politics can be an interpersonal relationship, in your own self, in your identity.”
Furthermore, an interesting question was posed by Dr. Diamadis: “What do we want Greece to look like in 10/15 years time?” This question got everyone thinking as he further went on to say “Don’t underestimate the power of the diaspora. Diaspora communities play critical roles in shaping policy in their ‘home’ countries and abroad.”
It was an interesting discussion, and I want to thank the committee members of MUGA for hosting a successful attendance lecture.
*Images by Michael Kokkaris, Levendi Productions
