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Thelma and Louise: A Tale of Empowerment?

On Wednesday evening, May 22, the public screening of the iconic film Thelma and Louise (directed by Ridley Scott in 1991) served as a prompt for an open discussion at Ypsilon Café. The event was organized by the English Department of ACT as part of the continuous efforts by ACT’s BA in English to bring academic discussions out of the classroom into the public sphere.

More than 80 people enjoyed the film and engaged in a lively discussion. The discussion was led by ACT professors Yvonne Kosma (PhD Sociology of Culture) and Emily Bakola (PhD Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies) who triggered an interesting debate and offered fascinating and valuable insights around the film and behind the scenes.

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Ridley Scott’s film exploded on the screen in the early 1990s, challenging the ways genre and gender politics alike defined Hollywood’s narrative style. The film gained prominence in academic circles, as it forced audiences, critics, and scholars to
confront their own definition and understanding of masculinity, femininity, morality, friendship, justice, crime and punishment.

Almost thirty years later, this film still raises questions without offering clear answers: is it really a story of female empowerment? What are the most significant ways that it allows for a feminist reading? In what ways can the film be seen, at the
same time, as a case of female disempowerment?

thelma louise screening discussion

As the event’s discussion testified, some see this film as an attempt to empower women and redefine gender politics in the postmodern era. Others disagree. Clearly the debate goes on... In the words of Katerina Dimitriadou, ACT English major present at the event, “For students of ACT, challenging our minds and worldviews is a common and familiar stage as this happens during our class time; for some members of the audience, it was a taste of embracing ideas and diversity. The only odd thing for an ACT student, was addressing our professors in Greek, but innovative initiatives such as this event and using ordinary activities to dive into crucial matters while exchanging views through productive conversations, was just another day at the ACT family!”

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Wellness Workshops by ACT for its students

To mark the completion of the first academic year of the reintroduction of the Psychology degree, ACT offered two wellness workshops to its students. The workshops were held at the end of May and aimed to help the students in view of their final exams.
The first workshop was coordinated by Dr. Elina Kazi, a psychologist for the Parent Academy, Life Long Learning at ACT, who discussed the methodology and the secrets of time management. Dr. Kazi incorporated exercises into her presentation that highlighted ways in which the attendees could free up their time through the goal recognition process.

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The second workshop coordinated by Ms. Nelly Florentin, a psychologist at ACT’s Counseling Center, discussed stress management. During this experiential workshop, the participants had the chance to discuss daily stressors, to recognize common triggers and to exchange ideas regarding coping mechanisms. It was a great opportunity for them to further develop their positive thinking patterns in order to manage daily stress more effectively.
After the positive response and enthusiasm shown from both students and faculty, ACT aims at organizing many similar workshops and presentations during the next academic year.

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Internship opportunities for First year Psychology students at ACT

Exciting opportunities are available for psychology undergraduate students to get hands-on learning and valuable research experience. While most students tend to complete internships during their junior or senior years, ACT’s Psychology Program offers internship opportunities with site supervisors from the first year of studies to increase competitiveness in the job market and support students to develop into well-rounded employable graduates.

The Greek Association of Alzheimer Disease and Relative Disorders (Alzheimer Hellas) is a non for profit organization that was founded in 1995, by relatives of patients suffering from Alzheimer Disease as well as by doctors of all specialties - mainly by Neurologists and Psychiatrists and also by other experts (such as psychologists, social workers, physiotherapists, etc.) that deal with the problems caused by this disease and by other types of dementia. Today, Alzheimer Hellas operates 2 Day Care Centers in Thessaloniki and has over 4.000 members.

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Greek Association of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (St Eleni Center): Ms. Xenia Maiovi, Stan Assouad (student), Ms. Evaggelia Bakoglidou, Christiana Smyrli (student), Natasa Tertlidou (student)

Christiana Smyrli (completed 100 internship hours at the site):
“A unique experience that showed me how important it is to see theory in practice, and a confirmation that I have chosen the right career". Christiana was also encouraged by her on-site supervisor to contribute to the 3-month Alzheimer’s Journal (Greek) Edition.
-read here part 1
-read here part 2

Natasa Tertlidou (completed 100 internship hours at the site):
“Through our internship at the St. Helena Unit, we have acquired not only practical knowledge in cognitive psychology but also the trigger to explore even more information about brain function. The experience was pleasant and gave us great satisfaction”.

Stan Assouad (completed 100 internship hours at the site):
“At St. Helena's unit I had the opportunity to broaden my knowledge of cognitive psychology and to know about people with dementia. The psychologists working in the unit treated me with respect and made me feel welcome”.

Spastic Society of Northern Greece (SSNG): SSNG was founded in 1970 in Thessaloniki as an association for the parents of spastic children and became the Spastics Society of Northern Greece in 1980. Its members are parents of children and youths with special needs, handicapped persons themselves as well as interested friends. The SSNG’s objectives are on the one hand to provide services to the disabled and their families, and on the other, to help bring about suitable conditions in the community for the integration of the handicapped on an equal basis.

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Ms. Niki Moshovaki (Psychologist) with the student, Einini Chatzikakou (currently under completion of 100 internship hours at the site)

The Psychology Program highly appreciates the time and effort all supervisors and staff spend with our students and look forward to a continuing relationship with your organizations.

 

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Dr. Asteris Grigoroudis: A “Cool Chem Teach.”

Known for being passionate in promoting Science Asteris Grigoroudis is ready to spread his enthusiasm for Chemistry to young students.

Asteris Grigoroudis, a Chemistry instructor at ACT, studied Chemistry and received a doctoral degree in Biochemistry from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Since then, he has evolved as an avid researcher, a ‘master’ teacher, and a passionate advocate for science.

Dr. Grigoroudis’ research has been focused on Signal Transduction Systems in Bacteria, or, in plain words, how bugs sense their environment. Building on the work of Yale University, he was able to identify a potential network of such systems, governing the functions of the ODC-antizyme. Additionally, in collaboration with researchers at the University of South Carolina, he is currently working on the discovery of small molecule protein kinase inhibitors targeting signaling and cell cycle proteins involved in tumor proliferation. Grigoroudis stated that “Development of anti-cancer therapeutics has long been a challenging target of both academia and industry with huge implications to everyday life and society, for the struggle against the disease of the 20th century.”

Grigoroudis’ research background is been transferred into his teachings by using ACT’s state-of-the-art labs, something that he calls “teaching Chemistry in its natural habitat.” In addition to ACT’s degree-seeking students, Grigoroudis is teaching a good number of Engineering, Pre-medicine, Physiotherapy, and Science students from various colleges and universities in the United States that study at ACT as Study Abroad students. These students are able to gain hands-on academic experience in their studies, readying themselves for the next semester, when they will be returning to their home institutions. Affectionately, he has been called by his students as “My Cool Chem Teach.”

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Grigoroudis is passionate about science and wants others to catch the science bug as early as possible. Thus, early on he became involved with Greece’s Center for Talented Youth (CTY - Greece), a collaborative venture between Anatolia College and Johns Hopkins University, supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The program identifies and develops the academic talent of young students through time-tested courses that are student-centered and challenging. Initially, at CTY Greece he was the instructor in the “Chemistry and Society” course, while later on, he taught the “Be a Scientist”, a course for 3rd and 4th graders, and “CSI@CTY”, a course for 7th to 10th-grade students. Regarding his CTY Greece involvement, he stated that “CTY Greece gave me the opportunity to take part in international Erasmus+ workshops focused on developing curriculum and teaching students with special abilities, making the research and promotion of giftedness an inspiration and aspiration!”

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Jana Arsovska ACT ’03. Spotlight on this year's Commencement speaker

In 2014 Jana Arsovska was named one of the Top 25 criminal justice professors in the US by the leading forensic sciences website ForensicsColleges.com noting that “the professors on this list have gone above and beyond in terms of leadership and professional contributions.” On the 2nd of July, she is returning to her Alma Mater to deliver this year’s ACT Commencement Speech, and to share with the graduating students some valuable lessons learned in life. 
 
Jana Arsovska ACT ’03, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Sociology and from Fall 2019 she will be the co-director of the International Criminal Justice BA Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York. She teaches International Criminology, Crime & Justice in the Balkans, Transnational Crime, Qualitative Research Methods, and other courses. Her most recent award-winning book Decoding Albanian Organized Crime: Culture, Politics, and Globalization (University of California Press, 2015) examines some of the most widespread myths about the so-called Albanian Mafia. She is also the recipient of the 2015 Outstanding Book Award, Division of International Criminology, American Society of Criminology; 2015 Best Publication Award, International Association for the Study of Organized Crime; 2016 Outstanding Book Award, International Section, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
 
You have achieved an acclaimed academic career in International Criminal Justice. Which factors played a key role in developing your interest in this field? 

Two main factors: the socio-political context in which I grew up, and my studies in International Relations at ACT. I come from a country in which crime is a topic that dominates news headlines on a daily basis. I was eleven years old when the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was drawn into highly destructive conflict. By March of 1998, the situation in Kosovo become highly unstable. At that time, the international press labeled North Macedonia, my native country, the Balkan “oasis of peace” because it wasn’t as affected by the regional wars as the other republics. Once the conflict spread to Kosovo, however, it became clear that regional conflict would have serious consequences for North Macedonia as well. In July of 1998, against the backdrop of a rising fear among the population in North Macedonia, my parents sent me to Tennessee as an exchange student. The TV news regularly reported on incidents of kidnappings and torture in parts of my country. In 1999, I came back, and I remember the government advising residents not to leave our cities and to avoid traveling on specific roads. 
I studied international relations at ACT, and my studies contributed significantly to my desire to better understand how countries, as well as international organizations, cooperate in order to fight injustices around the world, and how countries learn from each other’s experiences in order to improve domestic and international policies and laws. My studies enabled me to become a global citizen of this world and to gain knowledge about global politics, public policy, international relations, and global security. Years later, I still tell my students that it is not enough to only look at what is happening in your own backyard. To know if something will work in your country, you need to know what works, or doesn’t work, in other countries. Also, when studying transnational or international crimes, it is impossible to talk about effective policies without talking about politics, corruption, cooperation between countries (or lack thereof), bilateral agreements, and diplomatic relations. Finally, it goes without saying that studying abroad (in Greece, the U.S., and later in Belgium) gave me the confidence to embark on new challenges, throw myself outside of my comfort zone, and think through problems in a critical manner.

How would you describe your overall experience at ACT and in Thessaloniki and/or Greece? What do you remember fondly of those days?
One of the best times of my life. I have great memories from my days at ACT. There was such a great sense of community. I remember having so many friends from so many different countries with whom I socialized in the school cafeteria on a daily basis. Some lifelong friendships were made there! I also remember working on various projects together with classmates while having so much fun. I remember Dr. Wisner’s classes and the engaging (often funny!) videos/documentaries he shared with us. The teaching styles of the professors, their open-mindedness and critical thinking skills, their encouragement and support, their ability to connect (and stay connected) with the students...those are some things I will never forget. Some of the best classes happened at ACT because the professors listened to what we, the students, had to say and encouraged an atmosphere where we all learned from each other. I believe that doing so sparks tolerance for different points of view.
Being a teacher myself now, I try to replicate some of those teaching styles I appreciated so much while being a student at ACT. Teaching should be about learning right alongside the students in your classroom while having fun. If you have the passion and are having fun, then your students will catch your passion and share the fun. And most importantly, teaching is about enabling someone to be a critical thinker rather than a passive information processor.

Being a teacher myself now, I try to replicate some of those teaching styles I appreciated so much while being a student at ACT.

Prior to becoming an educator, you worked as a consultant on Albanian/Balkan organized crime for several organizations, including the World Bank, U.N., and DCAF, and the European Forum for Restorative Justice. How did your professional experiences shape your approach to the classroom?
I bring my practical experience to all of my classes and to all of my research projects. Even when I teach theory, I try to give practical examples as often as I can. There is no good policy without a good theory; the two are closely connected. I tell students stories from my field work in the Balkan region, my interviews with victims and offenders, and my training at Interpol, as well as from my work done at various international organizations. Students always tend to remember my practical examples. And there’s nothing better than seeing the light bulbs go off during a lesson, or seeing students experience the “aha” moment as I relate something they learned in the classroom to real-life scenarios. I always tell students that they must take as many internships as they can while they are studying. It is essential to bridge the gap between theory and practice. If you have practical experiences and are able to make connections between the materials that you study and real-life, then you are truly learning. In life, we must rely on a combination of both practical (metis) and technical (techne) knowledge.


As this year’s Commencement Speaker at ACT, what would you advise your young audience?
Some lessons in life I learned the hard way, through trial and error followed by the humility that comes from overcoming those mistakes. Other lessons I learned through observing those whom I consider great role models. So, this is my modest advice:
- Know your values and the rules you will abide by, regardless of the circumstances you face. Communicate your values openly to others in an effort to create an atmosphere of certainty and trust. Basically, know who you are and what you stand for.
- Have integrity and live by example. Be able to say “do as I do” rather than just “do as I say.”
- Listen without being condescending. Always be willing to hear what others have to say without rushing to judgment.
- Don’t say “no” to opportunities because they often open doors.
- Try to be as independent as possible. When you depend on other people your choices will be limited.
- Find your strengths and passions. Think: what are some things happening in this world that I hate so much? Is it animal abuse, wars, financial crisis, polluted water, crime and corruption, genocide, the rise of an unhealthy society, child abuse...? Once you’ve established what your passions are allow those passions to drive you to success.
- Use your time wisely. That doesn’t mean don’t have fun, it simply means do your best not to waste the time you have. Stay focused on your goal and pick your fights wisely.
- Learn from your mistakes and improve your game each time. Sometimes there is no “blueprint” to follow, and there is also no time to wait for the perfect plan to be dropped at your feet.
- Delay gratification. The longer you wait for something, the more you will appreciate it when you get it. What we know for sure is that constantly getting things instantaneously makes people less patient. And patience is necessary for one of the most important aspects of our lives: social interaction and relationships.
- Limit the use of smartphones and social media. Go out and socialize in the real world. Make real friends. Have a cup of coffee. There is no doubt that the mobile phone is a very useful tool and today mobile phones are a major part of society. But every technology that provides benefits comes with a consequent price. Think about the irony of how social media actually makes us anti-social.

Thank you for your time
You are welcome. And thank you, too.

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When the World Seemed New: George H.W. Bush and the End of the Cold War

On Monday, June 10, 5:30 PM, Dukakis Center organizes in Athens a lecture by Jeffrey A. Engel from Southern Methodist University (SMU). The event will take place at the Office of the European Parliament in Greece - Steki Room (Amalias 8 & Xenofondos Str)..

In 1988 George Herbert Walker Bush was elected 41st President of the United States. Bush’s Presidency was without doubt one of the most consequential in American history in terms of foreign policy. In short order, Bush would have to confront the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, the collapse of communist regimes throughout Eastern Europe, the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the emerging crisis in Yugoslavia, the Chinese crackdown on popular demonstration on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent UN authorized Operation Desert Storm. Throughout it all, the Bush Administration managed to prevail when and where it chose to intervene and to generate a feeling that the world was new.

Jeffrey A. Engel has written what may be the definitive account of the foreign policy of the Bush Administration. Now, in an exclusive appearance in Athens, he will deliver the spring 2019 Dukakis Lecture on his extensive research into President Bush’ foreign policy successes. The lecture will allow the local audience to relive this watershed moment in world affairs. Professor Engel’s lecture will also be a tribute to outgoing Dukakis Center Advisory Board member Marten van Heuven, who has served in this capacity since 2006.
Jeffrey A. Engel is founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. He has authored or edited twelve books on American foreign policy, written scores of scholarly and popular articles for leading publications, and is a frequent contributor on international and political affairs for media such as CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has also studied at Cornell, Oxford, and Yale Universities.

By invitation only.
Please use the Xenofondos Street entrance and show photographic identification at the door.
RSVP: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service at ACT.
Celebrating 20 years of public service initiatives in Greece

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Dukakis Center poised to pass milestone

The Dukakis Center is tuning 20!

To launch our birthday celebrations, the  Center has scheduled two major events in March. The first, to take place at the Municipality of Thessaloniki on March 9-10, is a mock national democratic convention for local high school and university students.

The second event will also be a premier of sorts, as we take our team to Athens for the first time. On Wednesday, March 14, American election official Michael Ertel and MIT Professor of Political Science Charles Stewart will be joined by OSCE election observer Susanne Caarls in a round table on "The Future of Voting in America," to be co-hosted in Athens by Eliamep and moderated by Alexis Papahelas of Kathimerini (tbc).

Celebrations will continue throughout the 2018-19 academic year, to culminate in a gala in Thessaloniki in September 2019.

For more information please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Dukakis Center Honorary Advisory Board

Our vision for the Dukakis Center is to be the premier private, independent think tank in Greece, unique in Southern Europe for its focus on citizen engagement, worthy of a great institution like Anatolia College. To this end, a core group of senior former Dukakis Chair fellows and lecturers, friends of Anatolia/ACT, and other supporters of our programs has been invited to serve on our Honorary Board of Advisors, to provide, on a purely voluntary and non-stipendiary basis, expert advice on academic and outreach activities undertaken under the auspices of the Dukakis Center.

Ex-officio members include ACT’s Provost, Stamos Karamouzis, and the Executive Director of the Dukakis Center, David Wisner. Other members serve one or more three-year terms on a rotating basis.

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Annual Fall Advisory Board Meeting

The Annual fall meeting of the Board of Honorary Advisors has been scheduled for Wednesday, November 14. The plenary session will take place, in situ and remotely via Skype, at 7 PM Athens time.

Items on the agenda will include a recap of the 2016-17 year, and a preview of planning for the twentieth anniversary season. Additional items will be announced in due course.

On the afternoon of November 10 the Dukakis Center will co-host Margaritis Schinas, Deputy Director General, European Cmmission, for an informal talk at ACT. Additional events are being planned for the lead up to the meeting.

 

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Dukakis Center at Reworks

On Wednesday, September 13, the Dukakis Center and the US Consulate General of Thessaloniki will co-sponsor the keynote session at this year’s Reworks Agora event, a Dukakis Lecture by Elizabeth Barry on "Reports from the Frontiers of Democracy: Implications for Urban Design."

The lecture will take place at 2:15 at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall (Maurice Saltiel Hall) and will be an integral part of the 17th annual Reworks contemporary music festival.

As director of urban environment at Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science, Liz Barry develops geographic tools and civic science methods for collaborative cities. She holds an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture from NCSU, and a MSA+UD from Columbia University. She teaches at Columbia University and Parsons the New School for Design. Previously, she worked at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill planning international new cities and campuses, at Durham Inner-city Gardeners (DIG) coordinating youth urban agriculture enterprise, and traveled around the country catalyzing interaction among strangers with a “Talk To Me” sign – a project that received considerable international press.

Ms Barry is also co-founder of TreeKIT, in which capacity she has launched a project to map all the trees in New York City.

 

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17 Sevenidi St.
55535, Pylaia
Thessaloniki, Greece
Tel. +30 2310 398398
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