On December 9-10, 2021, US President Joe Biden hosted a virtual Summit for Democracy for leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector.

The Dukakis Center for Public Service at ACT followed the summit and offered running commentary on the key moments of the proceedings. “The Joy of Politics” hosted the live-blog, which covered sessions from Day Zero and the two actual days of the summit.

Among the topics covered on Day One were democratic resilience, the media, and corruption. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke on Day One, along with several other heads of state and government. New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern delivered stirring remarks later in the day.

Day Two featured a special session on the interaction, positive and negative, between technology and politics.

Two sessions featured interaction among youth leaders from countries around the world.

The Summit is one of the cornerstones of the foreign policy of the Biden Administration. President Biden highlighted the urgency of the moment in his opening remarks: “The data we are seeing is pointing in the wrong direction… This is the defining challenge of our time.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinkin was similarly insistent, warning “We have seen a democratic recession in recent years.” Both highlighted that the Summit was meant to be, in President Biden’s words, “a kick-off to a year of action.”

The Summit inspired criticism from multiple corners, both within the US and abroad. The People’s Republic of China mounted a concerted campaign claiming that it, too, was a democracy, lambasting President Biden for hosting the event, and critiquing the track record of American democracy.

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne countered “The most important thing about the summit is that it’s happening.”

The blog solicited the views of ACT students past and present on the meaning of democracy. As Dimitris Moulas wrote, “if a government can esteem their citizen’s values and rights, only then can they be defined as a democratic system.”

Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister, Kingdom of Denmark, articulated this memorable statement, “Democracy is not just a system of government, it is a way of life.”

The Dukakis Center will host a mini-summit for democracy in January 2022 as part of the annual Thessaloniki Civil Society Forum.

How can a game promote civic participation and social inclusion? Partners from nine organizations (academic, research, and non-governmental institutions) and eight EU countries met on the 18^th and 19^th November in a hybrid meeting at the University of Salamanca, the lead partner of the INGAME consortium, to work on the development of this EU funded Erasmus+ Project, for which Anatolia College is a partner.

As the meeting was blended (face-to-face and online) and Dr. Maria Kyriakidou, Chair of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences at ACT, was in Salamanca while Dr. Maria Patsarika, the other ACT researcher on the project, was present online. Partners during this two-day meeting presented all the work packages of the project and in particular the educational design and narrative of the game levels as well as the digital play environment and coding, the capacity building training and pilot testing plans, quality assurance, and dissemination progress. The consortium planned the next activities and follow-up events.

To find out more, please follow the project’s website https://ingame.erasmus.site/

On November 18th, the ACT English Department hosted an open workshop titled “The Challenge of Disinformation” that aimed to expose students to contemporary topics outside the traditional classroom material, such as the pitfalls involved in digital communication. These risks include fake news, distorted information, and purposely false reports.  

Dr. Eleni Godi, Coordinator of the ACT BA in English, invited the following presenters: Nikos S. Panagiotou, Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Media Communications, Aristotle University, and Head of Digital Communication Network Global, and Yannis Kotsifos, Journalist, Chair of the European Center for Press and Media Freedom, Director General of the Journalists’ Union of Macedonia and Thrace (ESIEMTH) and its Cultural Foundation, and ACT Journalism instructor.

Nikos S. Panagiotou

Yannis Kotsifos

The two guests presented the Digital Communication Network, a multi-field coalition forming this continent-spanning network that engages a wide range of participants to tap into the best talent, ideas, and resources to combat disinformation. The organization and its branch, DCN Southeastern Europe Hub, headquartered in Thessaloniki, provides space, tools, and expertise in order to improve the digital and media formats, as well as build resilience to disinformation, in southeast Europe. The goal is to encourage new, independent voices, well-equipped technologically and socially aware, and also generate products, services, and content that cannot be created unless putting minds, creativity, and skills together.

Mr. Kotsifos explained the concepts of disinformation, mal information, and misinformation, how and why they are spread across social media and mainstream news outlets, and the differences between countries, while Professor Panagiotou introduced the “Fake News Hunters”, a volunteer research team from Greece and Romania. The team was formed by the Digital Communication Southeast Europe (DCN SEE) Hub, Forum Apulum and Peace Journalism Lab, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The research team started its work in March 2020, during the lockdown period in both countries, to highlight fake news distributed through social media. Greece and Romania share many similarities in the public domain, including the political systems and the public communication sphere as members of the EU and the Southeast European region.

Both guests invited all interested parties who wish to contribute to this initiative to contact them. The workshop itself, as well as the call for future collaboration, are part of a signed agreement between ACT and DCN to work together in activities and initiatives pertaining to the topics presented in the workshop.

Τετάρτη 15 Δεκεμβρίου 2021, ώρα 18:00, ΖΟΟΜ webinar

Πώς μπορεί ένα brand να εκμεταλλευτεί τις ευκαιρίες που του προσφέρει το TikTok;
Πώς προσαρμόζεται το περιεχόμενο στην πλατφόρμα και ποιες είναι οι δυνατότητες διαφήμισης;

Ο Φάνης Θεοδώρου, Brand Partnerships Manager στο TikTok για την ελληνική αγορά, εξηγεί την επιτυχία τού μέσου και αναλύει πώς μπορείτε να προωθήσετε και εσείς την επιχείρησή σας μέσα από την πλατφόρμα.

Τη συζήτηση συντονίζει ο Θοδωρής Παπανέστορος, Executive Director of Institutional Marketing στο Κολλέγιο Ανατόλια.

Δηλωστε συμμετοχη εδω

Καλεσμένοι

Φάνης Θεοδώρου
Brand Partnerships Manager - Greece, TikTok
Το TikTok for Business είναι διαθέσιμο στην Ελλάδα εδώ και λίγους μήνες. Ο Φάνης Θεοδώρου, ως Brand Partnerships Manager για την ελληνική αγορά, έχει αναλάβει τις συνεργασίες των agencies και brands με τη δημοφιλή πλατφόρμα. Έχει εργαστεί για σειρά ετών στο Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο στις Βρυξέλλες ως επιστημονικός συνεργάτης για θέματα Επικοινωνίας και Digital. Έχει σπουδάσει Marketing και Επικοινωνία στην Ελλάδα και το εξωτερικό. Η αγαπημένη του φράση είναι: Don’t make ads. Make TikToks.

Θοδωρής Παπανέστορος
Executive Director of Institutional Marketing, Anatolia College
Ο Θοδωρής Παπανέστορος σπούδασε Marketing Management. Έχει εργαστεί στο παρελθόν στα κορυφαία διαφημιστικά δίκτυα TBWA και MullenLowe, καθώς και στην UpSet!.
Σήμερα ανήκει στο δυναμικό του Anatolia College, κατέχοντας τη θέση του Executive Director of Institutional Marketing & PK-12 Enrollment, ενώ παράλληλα διδάσκει Marketing, Digital Marketing, καθώς και Advertising στο ΑCT.

West hall is the newest addition to the ACT campus. The recently renovated building houses a faculty lounge and the office of the ACT MD, as well as additional classrooms for ACT's undergraduate and graduate classes.

360° / VR Tour

Which are the important life skills that young children can acquire through basketball? The Basketball for Life Skills (BASKI) EU-funded Erasmus+ Sport Project, for which Anatolia College is a partner, is working on this answer and had its first face-to-face meeting on Monday 15 November 2021 in Thessaloniki. Representatives from partners in Cyprus, Romania, and Italy as well as our own Dr. Maria Kyriakidou, Chair of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences at ACT, and Mr. Stepan Partemian, ACT activities coordinator, met at ACT campus while partners from Bulgaria and North Macedonia joined the meeting online. They all presented the project’s developments so far including the national and transnational reports as well as the training modules for life skills and the best practice handbook’s progress. The consortium planned the next activities and the multiplier events that will follow up.

To find out more, please follow the project’s website https://baski.eu/.

The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and the Dukakis Center at the American College of Thessaloniki (ACT) invite you to an online discussion.

Greek - American economic relations are multifaceted. Northern Greece, and the city of Thessaloniki in particular, have emerged as hubs where American companies are investing, thus unleashing the innovation potential of the country, and attracting the interest of young Greeks. This discussion will focus on analyzing the already announced investments and their importance for the city of Thessaloniki and beyond, in the context of the Greek - American economic partnership. The discussion is part of the series of events entitled “Greek-American Economic Relations and the Future of the Greek Economy” organized by ELIAMEP, with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Greece.

Welcoming Remarks:

Elizabeth K. Lee, Consul General, U.S. Consulate General, Thessaloniki
George Pagoulatos, Director General, ELIAMEP; Professor of European Politics and Economy, Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB)
Konstantinos Zervas, Mayor of Thessaloniki*

Speakers:

Nikos Lambrogeorgos, Client Executive, Public Sector, Greece, Cisco Hellas S.A and Director of Digital Transformation and Skills Center
Maria Rammou, Human Resources Director, Veltio Greece
Panos Vlachos, President, Anatolia College
Harry Yeremtzes, CEO & Co-Founder, AidPlex 

Moderator:

Sophia Papadopoulou, Journalist, Athens News Agency - Macedonian Press Agency (ANA-MPA)

* To be confirmed

The event will be held in English on Tuesday, 23 November 2021, at 16:00 - 17:00 (EET) and live streaming will be available on the ELIAMEP website and on ELIAMEP’s official accounts on Facebook and YouTube.

You may submit your questions prior to and during the live discussion at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

With the kind support of:

Starting January 2021, ACT - the American College of Thessaloniki and NATO’s Allied Command Transformation Innovation Hub (NATO IH) based in Norfolk, Virginia (USA) launched a partnership involving internship positions for ACT students at the Innovation Hub. NATO’s Innovation Hub is an open collaboration community of people and entities developing innovative ideas and solutions to the challenges NATO faces. The developers’ community includes academia, industry, and innovators from the public while, in addition to the developers, the community includes end-users and capability designers, all working towards innovative solutions to operational needs.

Up to this time, two cohorts of ACT interns at the NATO Innovation Hub have completed their projects. The third cohort, the largest so far, is composed of 14 ACT students.  

Two ACT students, one from the first and one from the second cohort, continue these days their collaboration with the NATO IH, not anymore as Interns but as Fellows. These are Katya Vasileva and Ioannis Kiakos. ACT alumna Karina Iskandarova is also working as a Communications Consultant and Fellow at the Hub. The two current ACT students and NATO Fellows share with us the aspects of this one-of-a-kind opportunity.

What do you think your internship at NATO IH has offered to you?

Ioannis Kiakos: The NATO internship has given me the chance to broaden my network, which is extremely important nowadays. It helped me understand how an Innovation Hub works, what are its needs. Personally, I developed my project management skills, while I also learned some tech skills. During my internship, I had a great supervisor which was guiding my team towards the end goal always having in mind the requirements of the product. He helped me develop a more business-oriented mindset. In addition, the hub gave me the chance to help with the organization of an online conference. The internship also offered me the chance to work on a real-life project which was simple to build but innovative; this made me pretty much understand what open innovation means.

Katya Vasileva: It has offered me a colossal, valuable experience of working in the team, facing certain issues during the working process, and dealing with them on our own. My internship at NATO offered me the experience of something new and undiscovered. At times it can be a challenge, but in the end, such experiences always contribute to our self-growth and development and that is exactly what I am grateful for!

What are the specific tasks of your current position at the NATO IH?

Katya Vasileva: After my internship ended, I was offered a Fellow position at NATO, which was a huge honor for me. Currently, I am a project manager, dealing with all the activities connected with the ACT interns’ assimilation into the work process and trying to increase quality, performance, and satisfaction in their current position. Moreover, all of the newcomers will be soon assigned their projects and roles, where I will be leading some of the teams throughout their internship process and assisting the management development. 

Ioannis Kiakos: At the end of the internship, my supervisor approached me and asked if I would like to continue in the Hub as a Fellow. We mutually decided that I will work as a project manager in a CS project with a team of interns from my College. So, I now work with two students from ACT on a game development project. Along with my supervisor, I also helped a team that won a NATO hackathon to establish a new NGO that would help Afghans that NATO placed in Europe; the NGO is called Allied Volunteers. Finally, I also was backstage at the NATO innovation network online conference this month and I was ready to assist those who would face technical problems.

Digital Communication Network Global and Fake News Hunter Initiative

an English and New Media Initiative

Thursday, November 18th, 2021

2:00 - 3:00pm, Conference Room
Constantinidis Building

Please RSVP via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

About the workshop

Disinformation is a major challenge that threatens society. This workshop aims to present ways of verifying and analysing communication and information.

Participants will have the opportunity to become involved in an International Organisation (DCN Global) that specialises on issues regarding digital technologies and communication.

Presenters

Dr. Nikos S. Panagiotou
Associate Professor,
Google Research Scholar,
Head of Digital Communication Network Global
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Yannis Kotsifos
Journalist
Senior Researcher at Peace Journalist Lab - AUTH
Instructor at ACT

The Dukakis Center has launched a new series of virtual events, in the form of a monthly program in English on the Anixneusis web tv channel. The objective of this series of live video webcasts is to engage with an informal network of experts on topics of interest to an anglophone segment of the Greek public. 

The program is hosted by Dr. David Wisner, Professor of International Relations at ACT and Executive Director of the Dukakis Center for Public Service. Senior intern Chrysi Kioulmouratoglou (English, Class of 2022) is the program’s production assistant.

Two pre-taped programs were broadcast in May 2021 to test the format, the one featuring Mary Beth Norton of Cornell University, former President of the American Historical Society, and Aristides Hatzis of the University of Athens, the other a presentation of Ambassador Monteagle Stearns’ posthumous book on Andreas Papandreou.

A live pilot was then broadcast on September 17, with James Wasserstrom, anti-corruption official at the US Embassy in Kabul from 2009-14, on hand to discuss the ramifications of the Biden Administration’s decision to withdraw all US troops in Afghanistan.

The most recent episode of the program aired on October 15 and featured Peter Gries, Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Manchester (UK) and Director of the Manchester China Institute, who outlined a pan-European research project designed to measure public views of Chinese investment in various EU member-states, including Greece. The Dukakis Center will launch a joint research project with the MCI in 2022.

The Anixneusis web tv channel is the creation of Thessaloniki-based journalist Pantelis Savvidis. Readers of a certain age will recall Mr. Savvidis’ signature news program of the same name, which was carried Friday evenings on ERT3, and attracted a wide audience across Greece. Mr. Savvidis had hosted ACT faculty and Dukakis Center staff on his program going back to 2001, when Dukakis Center Director David Wisner first appeared on his program to discuss American politics.

The next episode of Dukakis Center Live will feature special guest Othon Anastasakis, Director of the European Studies Centre at St Antony's College, Oxford, who co-hosted the Dukakis Center’s symposium on political reform in Greece in November 2011. The topic of the discussion will be “Ten Years of Reform and Crisis in Greek and EU Politics (2011-2021).” This program will be a companion piece to a virtual exhibition of Dukakis Center banners and posters from 2011-2021, which is being designed by senior intern Arsa Soto (CS, Class of 2022), and which will open on November 3.

In January, Dr. Wisner will host Beth Simone Noveck, an Obama Administration alumna currently at Northeastern University, and Efi Stefopoulou, of the National School of Public Administration and the Hellenic Ministry of Public Administration, for a discussion on human capital in public administration. This episode will coincide with the fourth annual Civil Society Forum, to take place on January 27 in collaboration with the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Future programs will be announced in due course.