Volume 2 / Athens 2000 "Modern Greek Studies Association Symposium" Princeton University, 4-7 November 1999 by Polymeris Voglis The Modern Greek Studies Association symposia are major events for scholars on the field of Modern Greek Studies in the USA. The 30th anniversary symposium was held at Princeton University to pay a tribute to the inaugural symposium of MGSA in 1969 at the same university, as well as to the 20th anniversary of the HelIenic Studies Program. Most of the papers presented came from the disciplines of history, cuIturaI and diasporic studies, and Iiterature. The history panels were concerned mainly with the Greek CiviI War, the first major theme of the symposium. Various aspects of the Greek Civil War, such as the post-war economy, vioIence, personal experiences, and poIitical prisoners, among others, were discussed in three panels (Greece in the 1940s, The Greek Civil War: New Approaches, New Light, and, The Greek CiviI War). The question of Greek migration and diaspora in the USA was the second major theme. The papers addressed the current problems of the Greek-American community (panels: Greek America: Today and Tomorrow, The Greek Diaspora in America), and raised questions of culturaI identity of the diaspora. Within the Iatter discussion, culturaI studies papers focused particuIarly on issues of topography, diasporic culture, and literary expressions of the diasporic self (paneIs: Senses of PIace: Perceptions of Home, Attachment to Communities, Ethnic Identity, Diaspora Culture). Finally, a large number of the papers focused on the Iiterary production. There was a significant trend to explore the intersections of literature as a genre with other areas, gender, history, and theater in particular (panels: Gender and Culture, History and Fiction, Poetry, CuIture, and Drama). Other panels were devoted to the Jew and Muslim minorities in Greece (Minorities), the current Greek foreign policy (Modern Greece in the InternationaI Setting: Major Aspects of Greek Foreign PoIicy), and the collective memory (Ethnography). The 30th MGSA Symposium made evident the predominance of Iiterature and cultural studies in the Modern Greek Studies in the USA. Their development was eloquent in the fusion between Iiterature and cultural studies and the variety of approaches it produced, particularIy on the question of the Greek diaspora. Unfortunately, the same cannot be argued for history in the Modern Greek Studies. The reasons for the marginal position of history in the Modern Greek Studies in the USA are many. Moreover, it is not likely that this will not be the case in the future. Return to Top