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Public Lecture Series on Greece as a Conceptual Space
During the fall semester of 2017, the Institute for European Global Studies organizes a public lecture series on Greece as a conceptual space („Denkraum Griechenland – Multiperspektivische Annäherungen“). The series is organized in the context of the Master’s program “European Global Studies.” It is supported by the festival CULTURESCAPES Greece.
The associations evoked by Greece are diverse and highly contradicting. They range from Ancient Greece’s role as the “Cradle of Western Civilization” to more contemporary views that are determined by current affairs. This wide range makes clear that Greece is not only an entity defined by its geographical borders. The public lecture series therefore understands Greece as a “conceptual space” that must be approached from a variety of disciplinary perspectives: In eight lectures and one panel discussion, speakers from different academic fields will make the diversity and dynamics of this conceptual space tangible.
In the series’ opening lecture on October 4, Martin Lengwiler, Professor of Modern General History at the University of Basel, will speak about Greece as a social and tax state during the second half of the 20th century. Further events will, for instance, illustrate the significance of the western classical tradition for the Chinese educational canon (Prof. Ralph Weber, October 18), or explore the forgotten history of Sephardi Jews in Thessaloniki (Sibylle Benz Hübner, Prof. Erik Petry and Prof. Harm den Boer, November 15).
Furthermore, Giorgos Papakonstantinou, who used to be Greek Minister of Finance from October 2009 to June 2011, will present his autobiographical insider report Game Over in the context of a panel discussion on November 6. The book recapitulates the years when the Greek crisis has changed Europe. Together with Prof. Teresa Pullano and Werner van Gent, the former minister will discuss the attempts to react to rapidly changing circumstances and to make decisions – good or bad, right or wrong – that were officially made behind the curtains in Brussels, Berlin, Athens, New York or Davos.
The individual lectures of the public lecture series “Denkraum Griechenland” take place on Wednesdays (unless otherwise stated) from October 4 to November 22, 2017, from 6:15 to 7:45pm in room 115 of the University of Basel’s Kollegienhaus.
The lecture series is organized in cooperation with CULTURESCAPES Greece, a multi-disciplinary cultural festival that hosts more than 180 events and exhibitions to present Greece’s most relevant and most promising artists in the fields of fine arts, music, literature, film, theater, and dance. CULTURESCAPES Greece takes place from October 5 to December 3, 2017, in Basel, Lörrach and other parts of Switzerland.
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