2023-24

The course deals with the gradual penetration by Latins of the Byzantine empire and the conquest of Byzantium by the Crusaders in 1204. It examines in detail Venetian rule in Crete, the Ionian Islands and the Peloponnese, with emphasis upon various matters regarding the administrative and social organization, relations between Orthodox and Latins, the cultural environment and the economic activity of Venetian citizens. The course rests on the examination of archival sources, which it employs to justify the various conclusions that it draws.

Geography is the study of interactions between environment and society. As one of the social sciences, geography is influenced by other sciences, such as sociology, history, economy and political sciences. The result is the emergence of many geographies, that is, social geography, historical geography, political geography and so on, which result in many ways of studying complex geographic (spatio-temporal) phenomena.

The course focuses both on the changes to be observed in Ottoman administrative structures from the middle period of the Ottoman empire (17th cen.) onwards and on the consequences for economy and society of such changes. The weakening of the Sultan’s institutional power and the emergence of çiftlik land ownership, the implementation of Tanzimat reforms are some of the issues discussed in the course. In addition, the course analyses aspects of social and economic questions of the 19th century and the matter of how far the Ottoman empire enjoyed access to the new industrial era.

The aim of the course is to introduce first-year students to the various aspects of folklore, the subject itself, the content of folklore, its aims, its history, the methods it employs and to the basic bibliography. There will be extensive reference to the path followed in Greece by folklore, from the observation and recording of folklore in antiquity, during the Byzantine to the post-Byzantine and modern period. The course will also make reference to how folklore developed in the rest of Europe, America and internationally before and after the Second World War.

Greek FolkSongs: Semiotic Approaches