UCLA will create a new center to support the study of Hellenic culture and engage Los Angeles’ Greek community.
The UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture, which the university announced earlier this month, is funded by a $5 million grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation , a philanthropic organization. The grant is part of the $4.2 billion UCLA Centennial Campaign. The opening date of the center is still unknown.
The center will promote multidisciplinary approaches in the study and research of Greek culture and history and serve as a cultural hub for Greek-Americans in the greater Los Angeles area, said Sharon Gerstel, professor in the history department of art and interim director of the center. .
Gerstel said the center will collaborate with Los Angeles Greek organizations such as the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, the American Hellenic Council and the Greek Heritage Society of Southern California to host events.
The center will raise an additional $3 million before its official launch, according to a university news release. Gerstel said the center plans to raise additional funds by partnering with nonprofits and foundations and turning to Greek-Americans for fundraising. She added that the center could offer to name scholarships and conferences after donors.
The funds will be used to support academic and cultural activities, visiting professors and students, and courses in modern Greek language and literature.
Gerstel said she hopes the center will be officially launched within two years and added that she has already started planning its activities for this year. For example, the center supports various conferences and organizes a New Year’s celebration. on the campus.
Shelly Papadopoulos, a member of the Greek Heritage Society of Southern California, said she believes the center will be helpful to the Greek community because it will give them an opportunity to participate in cultural activities and connect with their heritage. She added that she thought her creation was long overdue.
“Here, that’s sorely lacking,” she says. “We don’t have anything here in the greater Los Angeles area that engages the (Greek) community.”
Papadopoulos said she thought the center would give students exposure to Greek culture and history.
“It will be a direct approach,” she said. “They will live it,… see it,… experience it rather than reading it in a book.”
She added that the Greek Heritage Society has already hosted events with the UCLA classics department and plans to continue its partnership with the new center.
Marianne Simpson, a third-year classics student, said she believes the center will provide more resources for students interested in learning more and conducting research about ancient and modern Greece. She added that she thought it would help connect professors and students with each other.
“A lot of people think it’s a dying field and not many people study it anymore,” Simpson said. “It seems like a way to both improve people’s idea of (those) who study the classics and to open up more opportunities for people to study and learn more about it. “
Simpson, a member of Eta Sigma Phi, an honor society for classical studies, said the organization would be interested in participating in center events and collaborating with the center.
Gerstel said she has worked with the Greek community in Los Angeles for many years and says she thinks community members are excited about the center.
“I feel like there is real enthusiasm for this center,” she said. “The (Greek) community has always wanted to have an intellectual center in the city.”
