Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, proposes to establish a permanent and multifaceted academic Center and program that will encompass the centuries of vital contributions of Greece to Western culture, and serve to preserve the language, tradition, and ethnic identity of Greek Americans, who, according to some estimates, may comprise one quarter of all Greeks in the world today. With funds totalling $1.5 to 3 million dollars, the University envisions a range of academic and cultural options (described below as PLANS A and B), depending on the amount available. The annual yield on the gift will be augmented with contributions from Rutgers in the form of office renovations, furnishings, equipment, operating expenses, secretarial support, health and retirement benefits for staff and faculty, etc.. It will also be augmented with interest from the Fund for the Elytis Chair. This Fund, which now amounts to almost $450,000, has been raised by the Greek American community in New Jersey and New York. The Fund is now under the management of the Rutgers Foundation and on-going fund-raising efforts are pursued by the Elytis Chair Fund organization.
1. The appointment of an outstanding tenured senior professor with an international reputation in some area of Modern Greek Studies, with the scholarly credentials and vision to provide leadership for a comprehensive Greek Studies program at Rutgers. While such a program would be interdisciplinary, encompassing Greek Studies in the social sciences and humanities, the senior professor would have her or his primary affiliation in an existing FAS department such as History, Literature, Art History, or Philosophy. Such a scholar would receive a salary of at least $90,000 plus benefits of approximately $30,000.
2. A full instructional program in Modern Greek Studies, including courses in Elementary and Intermediate Modern Greek as well as a wide variety of other courses in the humanities and social sciences. The latter courses will be taught by full-time Rutgers professors, while the language courses will be offered by part-time faculty, at a cost of $20,000 per year.
3. Funding for two graduate students, to support either students from Greece or American students engaged in Greek studies. These students might be involved in research connected with that of the Director of the Program, but this would not be a requirement. Each fellowship would carry a stipend of approximately $13,000 plus benefits of approximately $4,000, for a total cost of about $34,000.
4. A series of lectures and major scholarly conferences on issues related to Greek Studies that would bring to the Rutgers campus scholars, writers, and artists of international distinction. The cost would be in the area of $35,000 per year.
If the University were to raise funds at this level -- which would make Rutgers one of the most visible and influential centers for Greek Studies in the United States -- it would be prepared to make significant contributions, including secretarial support; benefits (pension, medical coverage, etc.) for the Director, graduate students, and staff; the renovation and furnishing of an office and common room for the Program, with journals and reference books; the operating expenses needed to run the office, and so on. A schedule of these contributions is attached at the end of the proposal.
1. Appoint an intermediate-level tenured faculty member to coordinate the program. Such a professor would earn a salary, initially, of between $50,000 and 60,000, and the benefits would increase this amount by $20,000. Every effort would be made to secure a scholar of great potential, who again would find a disciplinary base in the FAS department most relevant for his or her scholarship. Obviously a "distinguished professor" would give more visibility to a Greek Studies program here, but even a less established scholar, together with the interdisciplinary faculty in associated fields who are already at the University, would establish a vital academic program in Greek studies for Rutgers undergraduates.
2. Provide undergraduate courses in elementary and intermediate Modern Greek and in Modern Greek literature. The cost would be between $15,000 and 20,000.
3. Again, develop a program of lectures, conferences, and artistic events. While these might not attract participants as prominent and internationally known as with the larger level of funding, they would enhance Greek academic and cultural life both within the University and for New Jersey's flourishing Greek community. The cost would be $5,000.
Chartered as Queen's College in 1766, Rutgers is the eighth oldest institution of higher education in the United States. It is a member of the Association of American Universities, which includes the most prestigious public and private research universities in the country. Rutgers is a recognized university of distinction not only in scientific fields, but in the humanities and social science areas which are particularly relevant to the proposed initiative in Greek Studies. Several of the humanities departments at Rutgers -- including Philosophy, History, Art History, and English -- rank among the finest in the country. The University has also strongly encouraged international studies, both within academic departments and on an interdisciplinary basis (examples are programs in East Asian Studies and a recent initiative in Central and East European Studies). A program in Greek Studies would find a highly supportive academic environment here.
III. THE ELYTIS CHAIR
In 1979, the University's late president, Dr. Edward Bloustein, was instrumental in establishing the Distinguished Elytis Chair of Hellenic Studies. The Chair was officially approved by state and University officials in 1980, and it has been vigorously endorsed by academic bodies of the University ever since. Dr. Francis L. Lawrence, the current president, has reaffirmed the University's commitment to the academic and cultural initiatives represented by the Chair. While there has never been a faculty incumbent, the Elytis Chair has enabled the University to invite a number of prominent scholars from around the world to address various aspects of Neo-Hellenic culture, including the relationship between Hellenic values and those central to Western civilization and democracy. Organized by Professor E.L. Bourodimos, then Chairman of the Elytis Chair at Rutgers Organizing Committee, six lecture series took place on such subjects as Neo-Hellenic Poetry, Language, Literature, and Culture. Among the speakers were Professor K. Myrsiades, Dr. A. Panagopoulos, and Professor S. Vryonis. The Rutgers University Foundation and members of the Greek community in New Jersey have been committed to raising money to expand the activities of the Elytis Chair. For example, among other fundraising endeavors, the Elytis Chair Fund has organized lectures and benefit concerts in six American cities (including New York's Lincoln Center) by the distinguished pianists Linda Leoussi and Dimitri Sgouros.
IV. THE FOUNDATION FOR A GREEK STUDIES PROGRAM AT RUTGERS
At Rutgers, a program in Hellenic studies would find a receptive student audience, a supportive faculty with expertise in several closely related fields, and a large, active Greek community in New Jersey with long-standing ties to the University.
Among Rutgers' current students, at least 600 are of Greek descent. Some 30 to 50 of these students have enrolled each year in courses of modern Greek language instruction (elementary and intermediate levels), and in the one or two courses in modern Greek literature offered each year by part-time lecturers. We anticipate a greatly increased student demand once a more cohesive program is put in place, under the direction of a distinguished group of tenured and tenure-track faculty. A considerable number of University faculty in such disciplines as Classics, Philosophy, Political Science, and Art History are currently engaged in scholarship immediately relevant to Hellenic studies; these professors (including several younger, highly productive ones who are recently tenured) would give strength and depth to a cohesive Hellenic program. A list of these scholars is included at the end of this document. The list does not include the many - over 20 - Rutgers faculty members of Greek descent in other academic disciplines, although they constitute a significant resource of support for the promotion and promulgation of Hellenic language and culture.
Rutgers is well known for its tradition of providing excellent research opportunities in Greek Studies. Under the leadership of Professor J.C. Small of the Art History Department, the University is the United States Center for the Iconographical Lexicon of Classical Mythology, one of the most important projects in the world for the study of ancient Greek art. Every mythological motif depicted in classical art is contained in its pictorial dictionary and computerized data base. The project has been the result of cooperation among 35 nations, and has received over $1 million in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and from private foundations. Rutgers is also the headquarters of Project Theophrastus, an international undertaking to recover the fragmented works by and about this important philosopher, who was a student of Aristotle. Under the direction and editorship of Professor William Fortenbaugh of the Classics Department, three volumes of Theophrastus' "Fragments" have now been published, and multiple volumes of commentary are projected by the international team of scholars headed by Professor Fortenbaugh. Ancient Greek philosophy has also long been a focus of research and teaching in the University's Philosophy Department, where Professor Robert Bolton is director of a project that is publishing new and authoritative editions of Greek philosophers. The Rutgers History Department, formerly the academic home of such distinguished Byzantinists as Peter Charanis and Angelika Laiou, is continuing its tradition of excellence in this area. The field is now well represented by Professors Peter Golden, Stephen Reinert (a specialist conversant in modern, as well as medieval and ancient, Greek), and by Professor Karl Morrison, an internationally respected medievalist who is an authority on the Early Church Fathers. In the Political Science Department, as the appended list shows, several scholars focus on the Greek origins of Western democracy. Rutgers is thus the ideal setting, academically and culturally, for a vigorous program in Hellenic Studies, which would give cohesiveness to the rich resources that the University already has in closely related fields.
V. THE PROGRAM
The proposed program in Hellenic language, history, literature, culture, and identity would coordinate the University's wide range of scholarly activity in these areas (partially described above), encourage new research, and provide a Hellenic cultural focus for students and scholars of all ethnic groups. Any new faculty member or members appointed to coordinate Greek Studies must have outstanding accomplishments and promise in their field, and must be prepared to offer leadership not only for the academic program but for cultural outreach programs involving the community. On the academic level, the University will undertake to establish degree certification, initially in the form of a "Minor," for undergraduates who want a concentration in Modern Greek Studies. This concentration, analogous to those that exist in other language and culture programs, will require a specified number of courses beyond the language level, some in core Hellenic subjects and others in related fields (such as Classics, for example, or Byzantine or relevant areas of Modern European History) which provide important continuities and perspectives for the understanding of Modern Greece. While the new faculty appointees will wish to work out the specifics of such a concentration, the University will commit itself enthusiastically to its implementation.
VI. CONCLUSION
With donations totalling $1.5 to 3 million, the University will establish a permanent Program in Neohellenic Studies, directed by a tenured faculty member who will coordinate an interdisciplinary program and an academic program for undergraduates. With sufficient funding, the program will have fellowships on the graduate level as well.
The new academic initiatives will give coherence and visibility to the impressive faculty resources that the University already enjoys in related academic areas, making Rutgers one of the most outstanding institutions for Greek Studies in the United States. Students of all backgrounds will be the beneficiaries, but for Greek-American students, faculty, and friends of the University in New Jersey, the new program will foster a special sense of pride in their identity.
VII. EXPERTISE OF RUTGERS FACULTY IN GREEK STUDIES AND CULTURAL HISTORY
Faculty listed below are grouped by academic department of affiliation, although many have interests across disciplines. (Note: "FAS-NB" means Faculty of Arts and Sciences, New Brunswick.)
History
Philosophy
Classics
Art History
English and Comparative Literature
Religion
Political Science (Professors with special interest in the ancient Greek origins of modern political thought)
This page constructed by: Spiros B. spiros@fidelio.rutgers.edu