New course offered in the English language

HELLENIC REPUBLIC
ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI
FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCES
SCHOOL OF POLITICAL SCIENCES

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE POLITICS, SOCIETY AND ECONOMY IN CONTEMPORARY GREECE

Responsible professor: Ioannis Stavrakakis, Professor
Coordinator: Dr. Andreas Bouroutis,
ECTS credits: 3
Time and place: Thursday 15-18.00 room 107 (1^st floor Law, Economics and Political Sciences building)
Course starts: October 6, 2016

This is a course, composed by a series of lectures by staff members, doctoral and post-doctoral students of the School of Political Sciences and other Departments of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Its objective is to provide Erasmus and exchange students with an insight into – and the underlying causes of – the political, economic and social situation of Greece today. The lectures aim to introduce students to the most important aspects of Greek politics and the Hellenic society, as well as to offer them relevant information on the history and evolution of Thessaloniki, the city they currently live. 

This is an open-enrollment course, open to all Erasmus and exchange students in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; successful candidates receive three (3) ECTS credits. 

All lectures will take place at the Law, Economic and Political Sciences building). Students should enroll by email to the course designer, Assistant professor Ioannis Papageorgiou (ipapageo@polsci.auth.gr) before the beginning of courses.

Students should add the course to their Learning Agreement (relevant information shall be provided to students by the Erasmus office of the University on the first lecture).

The lectures schedule and detailed program will be provided to applicants before the course commences.  Crucial information and the tests of the course will take place through the online platform of the university (elearning.auth.gr).

Process Monitoring and Grading

Since the course is designed in the form of a series of thematic lectures, attendance is crucial and participation will be taken into account for the final grade. Each course (with the exception of outside speakers) will include a short test (usually the week following the course) on the (written or online) test and the literature provided by the lecturer. The final grade will consist of the average of the 5 best grades the student has received.

The course syllabus and reading material will be offered online (through the e-learning site of AUTH in www.elearning.auth.gr). Students should register with their AUTH account (once they have registered with their respective departments). Registration with the elearning requires no password.

Thematic topics

A brief history of Greece

• The creation of the modern Greek State
• The gradual expansion of the country
• Between East and West – the Greek modernity

An introduction to the contemporary political history of Greece

• From the civil war to the dictatorship
• Post-1974 history

Politics in Greece after 1974

• Party and electoral system
• The cleavages in Greek politics
• The fragmentation of the political system as a consequence of the crisis

The political culture

• Modernism versus traditionalism
• A European or a Balkan state
• The role of Church

The Greek culture

• Modern Greek literature and theater
• The arts in Greece today

Greece and the European Union

• A historic perspective
• EMU and Greece
• The immigration/refugee crisis

Greece’s foreign relations

• Greece and its neighbors (Balkans, Turkey)
• The relations with Russia
• Greece and the United States

The economy of Greece

• From an agricultural state to the services economy
• The “borrowed” prosperity of the 80s-90s
• The current economic crisis

An introduction to the history of Thessaloniki

• A multicultural city – a metropolis of the Balkans
• The role of the minorities (in particular the Jewish community)
• The changes after the W.W. II
• Re-inventing Thessaloniki in the 21^st century

The detailed plan of the courses will be provided to applicants.