Nikolaos Ferekidis (1862–1929) and monogram G.W., The Entry of King Otho of Greece in Athens, copy of the work by Peter von Hess (1839), 1901, οil on canvas, 200×340 cm. National Bank of Greece. Photo credit: https://www.greece-is.com/why-the-1821-greek-revolution-changed-the-world/
At the beginning of my summer, I participated in the Columbia Summer Research Practicum for Public Humanities and Hellenic Studies. Under the supervision of Professor Dimitris Antoniou and Nicolas Nicolaides, our teaching assistant, a group consisting of me and four other students
engaged in scholarly discussions on the public memory of Greece from the 1800s with most of our focus being on the Greek Revolution of 1821. From reading articles on the religious divides in Eastern Europe to watching videos highlighting specificities of Greek culture to analyzing Greek art from a variety of time periods, I discovered a new passion for historic preservation and public humanities.
My favorite class session was when Bridget Bartolini, the founder of 34th Avenue Oral History, spoke with our class about the origins of her oral history project and how she uses public memory to preserve the stories of common people. As a Queens native, I deeply resonated with her project and was fascinated by how she used oration to shine a spotlight on the Open Streets program in New York City, a program that has supported many of our communities in the city. As a result of my new shared interests in historic preservation and public humanities, I reached out to her with a desire to support her
Our initial discussions provided a basis for our individualized research projects. Two other participants and I chose to curate a virtual, interactive map with an accompanying glossary of historical terms for the M&A Faltaits Museum in Athens, Greece. The museum provided us with a collection of letters written by Ioannis Zanos from the 1800s and it was our goal to create a map that accurately represents the wide spread of the origins of the letters and tells the Greek stories that were never studied.
The first step in our research process was to teach ourselves about the context of the letters. With the support of Professor Antoniou and Nicolas, we reminded ourselves about the Greek Revolution of 1821 and the related terms, including key individuals and locations. Following that, we wrote detailed descriptions of each of the specific terms crucial to understanding the contexts of the letters. Some of these terms include the Philike Hetaireia (the Friendly Society), which was a secret Greek organization that lasted from 1814 to 1821, and Alexandros Ypsilanti, the leader of the Philike Hetaireia.
Following that, we had to pinpoint the specific origins of the letters to our virtual map and tie all of our research into one website. The most rewarding aspect of this research project has been seeing our work cumulate into one resource for the Faltaits museum to use. Being a part of a museum’s new initiative has allowed me to develop a passion for public humanities and gain a new desire to work in historical research as a career, whether that is through the museum or academic setting.
In the future, I hope to continue researching the public humanities and historic preservation, and I am so grateful that I took part in this research practicum with Professor Antoniou.