ACT and the Jena Centre for Reconciliation Studies (JCRS) successfully launched the “Kavala International Summer School”
The American College of Thessaloniki (ACT) and the Jena Centre for Reconciliation Studies (JCRS) at Friedrich Schiller University, in cooperation with the Foreign Affairs Institute (www.fainst.eu), the MOHA Research Center (www.moha.center), and the Balkan Strategies International Synergies (BSIS) launched the 1st Kavala International Summer School on reconciliation and social cohesion.
The Kavala International Summer School was held from 5 to 11 September 2022 at the Imaret Hotel with the participation of prominent speakers and 18 students, many of them from the Muslim minority in Thrace, along with four ACT students and two students from Egypt. In addition, two junior Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs diplomats also attended the Summer School.
The initiative turned out to be a focused, engaging, valuable and exciting project for all participants and an excellent skills-building initiative. It combined academic theory and the praxis of diplomacy to analyze policies and behaviors, enabling reconciliation, tolerance, social cohesion, development, and good neighborliness at the local, national, and international levels. The program also included a UN simulation under the guidance of well-known professors, scholars, diplomats, and entrepreneurs.
Dr. Stamos Karamouzis, ACT Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, presented the goals of the Kavala International Summer School. The opening session started with Mr. Konstantinos Fragogiannis, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, followed by a Q and A.
Keynote speakers included: Dr. Martin Leiner, Professor for Protestant Theology and Ethics at Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena; Dr. Stamos Karamouzis, ACT Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs; Dr. Iyad Muhsen AlDajani, Ph.D. Internet communication technologies for the reconciliation University of Jena; John Charalambakis, Professor of Economics and Finance; Dr. Elpida Vogli, Associate Professor of Modern Greek History at the Department of History and Ethnology, School of Classics and Humanities Studies, at the DUTH (Democritus University of Thrace).
The panel discussions offered deep insight and inclusive analysis on current topics of the international political scene with the contribution Babis-Charalampos Karpouchtsis, research associate at the Helmut-Schmidt-University of the German Armed forces, Loukas G. Katsonis, publisher of Foreign Affairs - The Hellenic Edition magazine (foreign affairs.gr), founding member and chairman of Foreign Affairs Institute, Greece (fainst.EU), Dr. Theodoros J. Theodorou, Director General MOHA Research Center, Greece Ambassador a.H, Dr. Catherine Boura, Ambassador ad h., Dr. Christina Papageorgopoulou associate professor of Physical Anthropology of the Department of History and Ethnology of the University of Thrace, Dr. Maria Kyriakidou is Professor and Chair of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences at the American College of Thessaloniki (ACT), Dr. Nikolaos Dimitriadis holds a BA, an MA and a PhD degree in Theology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with a focus on interfaith dialogue, Koralia Kontou, Project Officer in the European Commission (DG Home & Migration), Rachel Poole Muster, Director of Operations of BlackSummit Financial Group, Inc.
