2024-2025
Tuesday 8 October 2024 @ 7:00pm
Welcome cheese and wine event
Strathclyde University, Graham Hills Building, Room 702
Tuesday 12 November 2024 @ 7:30pm
The Karkalas Lecture
Professor Gerasimos Tsourapas, University of Glasgow
Greek-Turkish relations and the importance of migration in shaping the two countries' history and politics
Glasgow University, School of Education, St Andrews Building, Room 218, 11 Eldon St, G3 6NH
Gerasimos Tsourapas has worked extensively on the politics of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, with a focus on the politics of migrants, refugees, and diasporas. He has published two books on the politics of migration in modern Egypt (with Cambridge University Press) and migration diplomacy in the Middle East (with Manchester University Press). He is the current Editor-in-Chief of Migration Studies (Oxford University Press) and is the Principal Investigator of a five-year research project on the international migration and power politics, funded by the European Research Council.
Talk Abstract How does migration play into governments’ diplomatic strategies, and how may it be used for domestic and foreign policy purposes? This talk examines the interlinked histories of Greece and Turkey, focusing on the recent border crisis between the two countries in February/March 2020. Through interview-based research, I explore how migration diplomacy functions as a “three-level game,” where refugee politics influence domestic, regional, and international agendas. By focusing on both Greek and Turkish government strategies, I demonstrate how deeply migration has become entangled in the two countries’ policy goals. Additionally, I look back at how cross-border mobility has shaped the long, turbulent history of Greek-Turkish relations. I conclude by discussing how this framework can shed light on border crises and the broader relationship between migration and foreign policy in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond.
If you missed it, you can watch the lecture by clicking HERE
Tuesday 10 December 2024 @ 7:30pm
Social event
Venue: Bearsden Bowling Club, 2 Station Rd, Bearsden G61 4AW (https://bearsdenbc.org.uk (plentiful on-street parking). Short and easy walk from Bearsden train station.
The bar will be open and a snack (a choice of vegan and non vegan sandwiches as well as festive nibbles) will be served at about 9pm. If you require gluten free sandwiches please let our Secretary know, by e-mailing (Lyn.dunachie@uwclub.net)
Cost will be £10 per person. To reserve a place (we need to know the numbers) you should (please!) book and pay beforehand by BACS
Bank: The Bank of Scotland, Name: The Scottish Hellenic Society, Account no. 00875537, Sort Code: 80 07 24. Make sure to use your name as a reference on the BACS.
There will be Music (Greek and Scottish) to get you up and dancing provided by Sandy Cunningham. Our Chairman has arranged a programme of verse and song to inject a wee bit of Greek and Scottish culture to the proceedings.
Tuesday 14 January 2025 @ 6:30pm
Vasilopitta evening
Elia Restaurant, 24 George Square, Glasgow G2 1EG (www.eliagreekrestaurant.com)
Members £25 ppn, Friends £30 ppn
A variety of mezedes as starter, meat, fish or vegetarian as main course, vasilopitta cake and coffee as dessert
Secure your place by e-mailing our Secretary lyn.dunachie@uwclub.net
Tuesday 11 February 2025 @ 7:30pm
Ms Effie Koursari CEng
Climate change effects on bridge infrastructure-scour
Effie is an internationally recognised expert in scour, the main cause of bridge collapse worldwide and the main impact of climate change on infrastructure. She is a Chartered Engineer, member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology; she possesses two Bachelor’s degrees in Engineering and she is currently undertaking PhD Research at the University of Glasgow on the topic of scour, while working as a Technical Director for Amey.
Effie has been working in Engineering since 2006 and she has varied international experience, having worked on buildings and on the Aegean motorway part of European Route E75, until she moved to Scotland where she conducted research on river restoration at the University of Glasgow. In 2015 she joined Amey Consulting, where she is undertaking the role of a Technical Director, having created from scratch and leading a specialist team of Engineers working on scour. She is leading scour related projects UK-wide and abroad and she is developing innovative scour monitoring and prediction tools and methods that help safeguard infrastructure at risk, the travelling public and the environment. Her work on scour has been published internationally, and she has also been a member of Construction Industry Research and Information Association’s steering committee for the creation of the new engineering manual on scour (CIRIA SP171).
In 2020 the Women’s Engineering Society named Effie as one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering for her input on Sustainability and in the same year she was also awarded the Women Leaders Association’s Rising Star in STEM. In 2021 she was named as one of the Young Women Engineers of the Year, being awarded the WES Prize at the IET’s Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards and following this, she was also presented with Amey’s Centenary Excel Award, for excellence in Engineering. In 2023 Effie was awarded as the Institution of Civil Engineers Scotland Sustainability Champion of the Year; and Last year, the Royal Academy of Engineering and Transport for London featured Effie in the Engineering Icons Tube Map, renaming Sloane Square Station on the District/Circle line in London as ‘Eftychia Koursari’, recognising her work on infrastructure and the environment.
Glasgow University, St Andrews Building, Room 218
Tuesday 11 March 2025 @ 7:30pm
Joint meeting with Classical Association
Antonis Xenos
A Timeless Presence: Evolution of language writing in the Hellenic Peninsula
Antonis will present his book with the above title, written while he was searching for evidence on some archaeological items. The author always had the notion to write a book which would make it easy for the layman researcher to find facts on topics in a concise but accurate way. The opportunity arose when Antonis read an article on the Greek alphabet and this became his subject. The book covers a period of approximately 9 million years of continuing presence of hominins and humanity in the Hellenic peninsula with a number of interesting facts and timelines. Stone age cultures and the possibility of early writing are also included. Chapters include the beginnings of writing, examination of the two linear scripts of the Aegean, followed by the Pelasgian alphabetical writing as well as the Archaic and Classical alphabets. The book concludes with the Alexandrian era, followed by the Byzantine and Medieval Greek and finally looking into Modern Greek and its dialects.
Glasgow University, St Andrews Building, Room 218
Tuesday 25 March 2025 @ 6:00pm
On the occasion of Greek Independence Day, the Consulate General of Greece, the Scottish Hellenic Society of Glasgow and the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology of the University of Edinburgh cordially invite you to attend a round table discussion on
“Scottish Philhellenism and the Greek Revolution of 1821”
Opening Remarks
- John Huntley, Chair of the Scottish Hellenic Society, Glasgow
- Alexandros Ioannidis, Consul General of Greece
Speakers (in alphabetical order):
- Professor Niels Gaul, A. G. Leventis Professor of Byzantine Studies, University of Edinburgh
- Professor Vassiliki Kolocotroni, English Literature, University of Glasgow
- Dr Michalis Sotiropoulos, Lecturer in Modern Greek Studies, University of Edinburgh
Moderator: Dr Katerina Stergiopoulou, Lecturer in Modern Greek Studies, University of Edinburgh
Tuesday 8 April 2025 @ 7:30pm
Annual General Meeting, followed by
Tales from the olive grove, by Dr Richard Jones and Chris Lebessis
Dinner in a local restaurant
Sunday 20 April 2025 (event organised by Philokalia Charity)
