Tsiaras Visits Flinders Greek Program

Deputy Foreign Minister for Hellenism Abroad, Kostas Tsiaras, during a visit to Adelaide, visited the department of Modern Greek Studies at Flinders University. He was accompanied by the Greek delegation as well as by the Greek Ambassador in Canberra,  Haris Dafaranos and the Greek Consul General in Adelaide, Christos Maniakis Grivas.

The Modern Greek Program at Flinders is the most popular in Australia, delivering courses to Adelaide University, Darwin University and, from 2014, to Griffith University.

LOGOS Director Professor Michael Tsianikas said that it was the first time a significant figure from the Greek Government had visited LOGOS Center. “The visit underlines the significant developments that the teaching of Modern Greek language and culture has made at Flinders, and the Deputy Minister was especially interested in the online resources that we have developed to extend our language teaching capacity,” he said.

Tsiaras showed both his support and satisfaction over the initiatives undertaken to promote research and the online learning. He also stressed that the Greek government will do whatever is necessary to support these initiatives despite big cutbacks in educational spending. He didn’t say if funds would be allocated.

He also attended a presentation of the new online program at the university, which began in 2012 and is expected to be completed in 2015. The program allows each student both at an Australian and international level, to take undergraduate Greek courses. It seems unlikely, however, for Flinders to launch a new Greek studies program in Australia, given that advanced Asian studies seem to be mostly promoted.