The Dukakis Center at ACT has been organizing events dedicated to civic tech and, now, civic AI, for two decades.

The Director of the Center has a long-standing interest in civic-tech, having taught a pilot hybrid senior seminar on e-democracy via Blackboard in 2004, and has subsequently written and lectured broadly on the subject and attended events like the Internet Governance Forum. Indeed, In matters of technology Dr. Wisner has pioneered the use at ACT of various platforms, formats, tools, and approaches to event planning and management, has animated a series of events on business and technology, and maintains a research profile in technology and democracy.

Under Dr. Wisner’s direction, the Dukakis Center has hosted multiple speakers and events with a focus on civic technology. The late Jim McGann of the University of Pennsylvania delivered the keynote lecture on AI and civil society in May 2019 at our think tank summit at Public Syntagma in Athens, “Gatekeepers of Democracy.” Before that, Victoria Alsina of GovLab (NYU) and the Ash Center (Harvard), who delivered the keynote lecture at the Reworks Agora 2018, "Blockchain: Grassroots initiatives for democracy." The Dukakis Center helped bring Epaminondas Christofilopoulos’ work into the public eye when we hosted his talk on “AI and the Future of Work” at Reworks 2019.

In May 2020 the Center was to have hosted, live from Taipei via holographic projection, Audrey Tang, Digital Minister for Taiwan, for a talk on the future of democracy. More recently, Beth Simone Noveck of Northeastern University (formerly White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer under President Obama) spoke at the Center’s 2022 Civil Society Forum, while Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody (2008) and Vice Provost for AI and Technology in Education at New York University, spoke under the Dukakis Center banner at Beyond 2025 in Athens, at a session entitled “AI, social contracts, and digital literacy.”

Our next forays in the field will take place during the 2025-26 academic year amid heightened awareness of and concern over the future of artificial intelligence. The Center will host a one-off event on Civic AI with a local partner for a select audience in Thessaloniki, and a discussion session on the same topic at next year's Beyond forum (Athens, June 2026). Among others, the Dukakis Center will invite the conveners of this year’s TICTeC “Impacts of Civic Technology” conference in Mechelen, Belgium.

They are calling it America250 in certain circles. In 2025-26, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the adoption and signing of the American Declaration of Independence, we will host a year-long series of activities with various partners to mark this important moment in American history.

Entitled "When in the course of human history," the Dukakis Center series will consist of one-off lectures, round tables, and workshops to commemorate what is otherwise known as the semiquincentennial, with individual sessions to take place in Thessaloniki and/or Athens. The program will include a citizen-centric engagement project with American study abroad students.

In point of fact the Dukakis Center has been celebrating the run-up to this occasion for some time already.

In May 2021, during the bicentennial of the Greek Revolution, we hosted an episode of Dukakis Center Live on Anixneusis Web TV with Aris Hadzis of the University of Athens and Mary Beth Norton of Cornell University, former President of the American Historical Association and author of74: The Long Year of Revolution (Knopf, 2020). (Professor Hadzis had appeared at our event on the future of voting in America at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens in March 2018.)

Then, just ahead of Independence Day that year, we broadcast two more episodes of Dukakis Center Live, the one on the future of public service, featuring General Mark Welsh III, then Dean of the Bush School for Government and Public Service, currently President of Texas A&M University; the second on soft power and international education, with guests Jenifer Neils, outgoing Director of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and Scott Sprenger, President of the American University of Rome.

Specific events on tap in 2025-26 will include a lecture on the Declaration of Independence as an event in international relations; a discussion session dedicated to the role of colleges in the revolutionary period; a round table with American and Greek museum professionals on the art of curating a revolution; a session dedicated to the view from the periphery (Canada in 1776; Macedonia in 1821).

Our Director, David Wisner, recently published this op-ed piece in Kathimerini English edition to highlight the spirit of our celebration next year.

Interested parties may reach out to the Dukakis Center about these and other activities at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Our director, David Wisner, has said regularly that one of the principal roles of the Dukakis Center must be to promote serious scholarship on the topics falling within the Center’s mandate, owing to the fact that we are based on the campus of an American university. By the same token, as a civic engagement hub which aspires to be of service to our stakeholders, we have an obligation to ensure that this same scholarship is of some fundamental utility to the general public. Hence our self-imposed mission as purveyors of what is commonly called public, or publicly engaged, scholarship.

Per our friends at the Center for Community and CIvic Engagement at Carleton College (MN), we define public scholarship as “scholarly or creative activity that joins serious intellectual endeavor with a commitment to public practice and public consequence… intellectual work that produces a public good.” Says Dr. Wisner, “Public scholarship is being informative without sophisticated jargon. It is akin to conversing with a generalist audience, not talking down to them. It is acknowledging that we are concerned with the same issues and might contribute something different to help understand the nature of a problem.” 

Many of our peers throughout the knowledge ecosystem are similarly engaged, in the classroom, at collegiate centers and think tanks, for university presses, and as members of academic associations. Scholarship that addresses a wide non-academic public cuts across partisan lines, depending on the nature of the communities most directly impacted. While college professors are occasionally urged to “save the world on their own time” (Stanley Fish), it is safe to say that a broad-based consensus exists that public scholarship is a kind of academic summum bonum. 

The Dukakis Center does not have the means to support a full fledged research profile, but we have at times sought to inform public debate at fora like those listed above. Our track record is in fact steady and impressive, and has frequently featured a healthy student involvement. Witness the pan-Hellenic surveys of voting behavior undertaken at our behest by the Public Opinion Research Unit, University of Macedonia (2016), and by Ierax Analytix (2023). In 2012 a group of faculty, student interns, and colleagues from off campus teamed up to launch a blog entitled “Politis,” which ran in one form or another until the end of the decade. Two Kindle ebooks were subsequently produced with selections of blog posts by various authors; meanwhile, the Politis identity was extended to a Facebook community and a Facebook page, each undertaking various public scholarship functions. For a period between January 2014 to May 2016 the Center hosted several masterclasses, which offered a unique model of teaching and learning to go along with the academic events we were hosting. One of these masterclasses, conducted throughout the spring of 2014 by the acclaimed photographer Chrysa Nikoleri, culminated in an exhibition of photographs of candidates running in local elections, taken and explicated by a group of senior Dukakis Center interns.

The most obvious examples of public scholarship in action have been a subset of our public events, beginning with a conference in May 2003 on the 1990s civil war in Bosnia, featuring diplomats and public officials representing Serbia, NATO, the WEU, the US Department of State, and other institutions in Greece and Turkey. The Dukakis Center has indeed frequently hosted policy experts, whose work requires a mix of scholarly understanding, pragmatic political skills, and, occasionally, the passion of a committed activist. Several event cycles feature such speakers -- Ruth Sutton’s Inspiration Exchange workshops, the Business & Politics Forum roundtables, the sessions we organized for the Reworks music festival, a handful of book presentations, and the Policy Lab seminars we hosted in 1012-13. The outstanding instance of such programming, which entails painstaking research to master the issues and identify guest speakers, is the series of public conferences we organized on the future of democracy, in 2011, 2014, 2016, and 2020. The 2020 conference was postponed owing to the outbreak of Covid-19; it would have represented the most advanced instance of publicly engaged scholarship in our 25-year history (see draft program below). 

It is safe to say that this type of programming is one of the distinguishing features of the Dukakis Center, and one of the things that makes the Center unique in Greece. It has not gone unnoticed by our many guests, stakeholders, and fans.

Appendix 

Sixth Dukakis Public Affairs Symposium
DEMOCRACY BEGINS
April 27-29, 2020
Thessaloniki, Greece

Draft program 8.0 February 2020 (subject to modification)

Tuesday, April 28

Session 1

“The Archeology of Democratic Beginnings”
Speaker: Jennifer Neils, Director, American School of Classical Studies (confirmed)
Discussant: Efimia D. Karakantza, Associate Professor of Ancient Greek Literature, University of Patras (confirmed)
Moderator:TBA
Excerpts from Astra Taylor, “What is Democracy?” and Daniel Keefe et al., “Bema”

Session 2

Survey: “Contemporary Attitudes Toward Greece’s Democratic Legacy” 
Speakers: Nikos Marantzidis, Professor of Political Science, University of Macedonia (confirmed); Giorgos Siakas, Director, Public Opinion Research Unit, University of Macedonia Research Institute (confirmed)
Discussant: Roberto Foa, University Lecturer in Politics and Public Policy, POLIS, University of Cambridge (tbc)
Online poll

Session 3. “The Legacy of the Twentieth Century (Weimar, Spain)”

Speakers: Simone Erpel, Curator, German Historical Museum (confirmed); Charles Powell, Director, Elcano Royal Institute for International and Strategic Studies (confirmed)
Moderator: Dimitris Triantaphyllou,  Director of the Center for International and European Studies at Kadir Has University (confirmed)

Session 4

Roundtable: “Democracy in Greece’s Near Abroad”
Moderator: Othon Anastasakis, Director, European Studies Centre, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford (confirmed)
Panelists: Dimitar Bechev, Atlantic Council (confirmed); Kerem Oktem, Centre for Southeast European Studies, University of Graz (invited); Ilda Zhulali (ACT Class of 2001), Advisor to the President of the Republic of Albania (confirmed); Giorgos Christides, University of Macedonia (confirmed)

Wednesday, April 29

Concurrent breakfast sessions (5a and 5b)

1. Student workshop-simulation (Ashoka Greece, “Doing Democracy;” pending)
2. Discussion on democracy and public service: Béatrice Angrand, Présidente, Agence du Service Civique (invited)

Session 6. Democracy Promotion Today

Presentation of “Government of Sweden, Statement of Government Policy” (February 2019)
Speaker: Patrik Svensson, Counsellor, Embassy of Sweden in Athens (confirmed) 

Session 7. The Future of Democracy

Speaker: Audrey Tang, Digital Minister for Taiwan (confirmed)
Discussants: Vincent Mueller, Technical University of Eindhoven (confirmed); Epaminondas Christofilopoulos, Millennium Project (confirmed); Christine Connolly, Digital Engagement Manager, The Scottish Government (confirmed); Guiseppe Porcaro, Head of Outreach and Governance, Bruegel (confirmed)

On Thursday, June 26, 2025, the 12th “John & Mary Pappajohn Business Plan Competition” concluded at the premises of ACT (American College of Thessaloniki). The competition, organized by ACT’s Entrepreneurship Hub, awards five prizes of €4,000 each to the five best business plans with the potential to develop into sustainable ventures. The cash prizes are sponsored by the John and Mary Pappajohn Foundation, established by Greek-American entrepreneur John Pappajohn.

This year’s winning teams were:

• Dimitra Pantelaki with KORI, an app that transforms a smartphone camera into a high-precision pupil monitoring device for medical purposes.

• Aspasia-Ramona Spyropoulou with LABMINDS, a digital platform aimed at finding suitable participants for research studies.

• Ourania Vairaktari and students from the Model General High School of Larissa with PHOTON AI, offering an ecosystem of energy management and autonomy solutions.

• Christos Mourelatos with STELLAR PHRONESIS, a system that addresses autonomy challenges in modern mobility technologies.

• Cure Cloud an innovative, GDPR-compliant digital platform that enables patients to efficiently maintain their medical records while providing medical agents and healthcare companies with valuable, anonymous data for research purposes.  Mr Dimitrios Pertsinidis led the team. 

The event was coordinated by Dr. Nikolaos Hourvouliades, Director of the ACT Entrepreneurship Hub. The seven-member judging panel included successful and active entrepreneurs in the business ecosystem such as:

• Anastasios Andreadis, CEO of STANTA

• Dimitris Kouletsis, Business Development Manager at The People’s Trust

• Dimitris Kourtesis, Coach and Co-founder of Ideas Forward

• Thrasyvoulos Makios, Business Angel and Managing Director of Green Development Investments

• Nikolaos Pentzos, President of ZANAE

• Dr. Kostas Rotsios, Business Coordinator at ACT

• Nikolaos Takas, CEO of Thermi Ventures

The “John & Mary Pappajohn Business Plan Competition” is one of the most significant activities of the ACT Entrepreneurship Hub. For over a decade, it has supported, encouraged, and connected new start-ups. Each year, more than 60 start-ups compete not only for the €4,000 cash prize, but also for the valuable growth and networking opportunities the competition provides.

The ACT Entrepreneurship Hub is supported by the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, Pakketo, and the company PARADOSIAKO, making possible the execution of all annual events and activities of the Hub while promoting entrepreneurship in the broader region.

The Department of Computer Science at ACT is proud to announce a series of scholarly achievements by its students, including three peer-reviewed publications and the department’s first conference award.

The work stems from this year’s thesis research and includes follow-up projects initiated last year. ACT students presented their research at prestigious academic conferences, alongside MSc and PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty members, and industry scientists. Several of these students are continuing their research efforts beyond graduation, making a strong step forward in undergraduate research excellence at ACT.

• Best Oral Presentation Award at ELEVIT 2025
  Filip Ivanis received the Best Oral Presentation Award and a monetary prize at the 11th Panhellenic Conference of the Hellenic Society of Biomedical Technology (ELEVIT 2025) in Athens for his presentation of the paper:
  F. Ivanis, G. Beleli, V. Fiska, A. Astaras,
  "A Novel Soft-Robotic Glove for Physical Rehabilitation Featuring Adjustable Agonist/Antagonist Muscle Assistance."
  (See conference programme and proceedings, p. 157)

• Publication on Assistive Wearable Technology
  K. Chaitas, M. Karamichalis, and A. Astaras presented their research on tactile feedback systems for visually impaired users:
  "A Novel Wearable Navigation Assistance Device Using Intuitive Tactile Feedback for People with Visual Impairments (Navisense)."
  ELEVIT 2025, Athens
  (See conference programme and proceedings, p. 156)

• Presentation at MOCAST 2025
  A second paper by F. Ivanis, G. Beleli, V. Fiska, and A. Astaras, titled
  "Towards a Soft Robotic Glove for Physical Rehabilitation Featuring Adjustable Agonist/Antagonist Muscle Support,"
  was presented at MOCAST 2025, held in Dresden, Germany, June 11–13.
  (Full paper available)

These accomplishments reflect the high caliber of research conducted by our undergraduate students and the collaborative mentoring provided by the ACT faculty.

We congratulate all students and faculty involved and look forward to more groundbreaking student research in the future.

As part of his continued engagement in global dialogue on ethics, reconciliation, and intercultural understanding, Professor Dr. Nikolaos F. Dimitriadis, faculty member of ACT (American College of Thessaloniki) and President of the Center of Ecumenical, Missiological and Environmental Studies (CEMES), participated in the high-level consultation “Living Together in Harmony: Rejecting Dehumanisation and Overcoming Polarisations” held at the United Nations Office in Geneva.

Reflecting on the significance of the moment, Dr. Dimitriadis remarked:

“I’ve crossed many gates in my life, gates of learning, dialogue, and transformation, but walking through the gate of the United Nations today felt different. It felt like stepping into a sacred responsibility. Reconciliation, whether between nations or neighbors, becomes impossible when we no longer see the other as fully human. Dehumanisation is the oxygen of war and the seed of division.”

Drawing on the values of the United Nations Faith for Rights framework and the ethical vision of Globethics.net, Dr. Dimitriadis underscored the indispensable role of ethical education and spiritual literacy in rebuilding trust and addressing global polarization.

“Faith and human rights are not enemies. They are partners. Living together in harmony is not only about ending conflict. It is about seeing the sacred in every human being and having the courage to act on it.”

This intervention reflects ACT’s commitment to fostering leaders who embrace ethical responsibility, intercultural dialogue, and the pursuit of peace grounded in shared human dignity.

Barnes-Horowitz, N. M., Perez, O. D., Chalkia, A., Craske, M. G., Bois, J., & Zbozinek, T. D. (2025). Low occasion setter salience results in learning conditional stimulus partial reinforcement instead of occasion setting. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 123(3), 497–513. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.70014

Building on the momentum of his U.S. visit, marked by high-level discussions at the Department of State, academic engagements at Boston College, and encounters with Orthodox leadership, Dr. Dimitriadis continued his international outreach at the “Light for the Nations” gathering in Geneva, Switzerland (February 2025). There, he represented the Center of Ecumenical, Missiological and Environmental Studies (CEMES) in a dialogue focused on faith-based social entrepreneurship and unity. The presentation drew upon the same themes of interreligious cooperation and social transformation that had defined his meetings across the Atlantic.

In Geneva, Dr. Dimitriadis joined global leaders and visionaries in exploring how shared values, such as compassion, justice, and dignity, can transcend religious and cultural boundaries. As he reflected: “To overcome what divides us, we must focus on what unites us: the shared desire for justice, compassion, and human dignity. This requires an intentional journey, one rooted in humility, solidarity, and hope.”

The event offered not only a scholarly platform for addressing religious diversity and human rights but also affirmed the critical role of cross-cultural engagement in navigating today’s global challenges, extending the spirit of dialogue and ethical leadership fostered during his U.S. journey.

On Thursday, April 18th 2024, the International Studies Program and the Theology Department of Boston College hosted an important academic event titled "Religious Diversity & Protecting Places of Worship" at Connolly House. Featuring the attendance of students and faculty alike, the lecture was delivered by Dr. Nikolaos Dimitriadis, Professor of World Religions at the American College of Thessaloniki and President of the Center of Ecumenical, Missiological, and Environmental Studies (CEMES) in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Dr. Dimitriadis presented on "Concepts of Religious Diversity and the Quest to Protect Places of Worship: Findings from the European Union Project PROSECUW." His talk addressed the pressing need to safeguard religious and cultural heritage sites in the context of increasing hate speech, religiously motivated violence, and extremist threats. Drawing from his work with the EU-funded PROSECUW project, Dr. Dimitriadis outlined the multifaceted challenges faced by places of worship today and proposed strategic frameworks for protecting these spaces through interfaith dialogue, community resilience, and human rights advocacy.

Dr. Dimitriadis’s visit to the United States was further enriched by a private audience with His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, who warmly welcomed him to the Archdiocese of New York. The journey culminated with a unique and deeply meaningful visit to the U.S. Department of State. A significant highlight was the in-depth exchange with the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Mr. Rashad Hussain, on matters of shared concern and global importance.

The ACT (American College of Thessaloniki), in collaboration with the University of Jena (Germany) and the Foreign Affairs Institute (FAINST, www.fainst.eu), has successfully organized the Kavala International Summer School on Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation for the past three years (2022–2024) in the city of Kavala.

In 2025, the 4th International Summer School will move to Thessaloniki and be hosted at ACT from July 13 to 20. This year’s program will focus on energy diplomacy, climate challenges, and conflict resolution—critical issues at the intersection of environmental change and international relations.

The Summer School combines academic theory and the praxis of diplomacy to analyze policies and behaviors at the local, national, and international levels under the guidance of renowned professors, scholars, diplomats, and business leaders. Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to enhance their professional skills by working on real-world cases alongside academics, leaders, and diplomats.

• For more information on the program and the proceedings, please contact one of the following:

Dr. Maria Kyriakidou. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dr. Theodoros Theodorou, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Foreign Affairs Institute, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.