GREA SOMO 360 - Modern Greek Society:Everyday Life & How

Institution:

Arcadia University

Subject:

Description:

Culture shock: what causes it? There are things one knows to expect when coming to Greece: new foods, a foreign language, a busy city. What one doesn't expect is that the very rules of living are different: eye contact, physical proximity, the way one argues, the way foreigners are sized up, the way one behaves if you're a woman or a man, the way family members treat each other, the way one relates to political life, the meanings of "urban" and "rural," how traditions can be modern and traditional at the same time, how one thinks about generosity and hospitality, and on and on and on. In this course, we'll be analyzing the logics, the rules, and the cultural commonsense at work in Modern Greek society (societies?). This course will enable students to analyze the logics, the rules, and the cultural commonsense that makes Modern Greek society (societies?) work. Through the work of anthropologists who have researched in Greece over the last 60 years, we'll look at the rules of rural village life as it looked several decades ago, then trail those villagers into the city of Athens during the massive urban migration that followed. Topics of the course include: gender, sexuality, urbanization, coffee, Europeanization, Modern Greek history, sheep theft, folk practices in Greek Orthodoxy, rites of birth and death, holiday rituals, graffiti, immigrants and minorities, contemporary politics, dance, cigarettes, film, etc. Class assignments will be reports on firsthand ethnographic research, where students will be required to get out there, watch what people are doing, ask questions, and participate. (Athens, Greece, http://www.arcadiacenter.edu.gr/)

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.arcadia.edu

Phone Number:

(215) 572-2900

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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