In a unique exercise in track-two diplomacy, the Dukakis Center and the Center for International and European Studies at Kadir Has University in Istanbul (CIES) co-hosted a round table on Friday, May 18, on geopolitics in the Aegean, with a particular focus on the triangular Greek-Turkish-US relationship.

An all-star panel of scholars from Kadir Has and select Greek universities set the stage for an understanding of Greek-Turkish, and Turkish-Greek, bilateral relations. Notable was the revelation that very few academic programs exist in Turkish and Greek universities with a formal focus on the neighboring country. Co-organizer Dimitris Triantafyllou, the director of CIES, observed that Kadir Has is an exception in this regard, where Greek and Turkish scholars collaborate pedagogically on a daily basis.

So mentioned was the fact that while Greeks may seem preoccupied by their Aegean neighbors, for many Turks Greece does not rank particularly high as friend or foe. Rather, in popular opinion, if not in policy circles, Israel is now seen to be a major rival, while Russia is felt by many to be Turkey’s closest friend; such was pointed out by Mustapha Aydin, President of the International Relations Council of Turkey.

Overt criticism was generally minimal. Characteristic was the tone adopted by Pavlos Apostolides, former Director of Greek National Intelligence, whose intervention was at once precise and understated. One exception came in the presentation by John Koenig, former US Ambassador to Cyprus, who expressed his fear that long-time allies Turkey and the United States seemed to be drifting apart.

The prevailing mood was rather one of accommodation and mutual understanding, as befits a landmark event with preeminent speakers. As one observer noted, there is a reason to be optimistic about the state of Greek-Turkish relations in particular, despite certain current and long-standing concerns.

The Dukakis Center, ACT, and Anatolia College have organized many events on local and regional affairs, featuring speakers such as Elizabeth Prodromou, Van Coufoudakis, Suhnaz Yilmaz, Van Coufoudakis, Alvaro de Soto, Heath Lowry, and Kostas Ifantis.

In attendance at the event were Giorgos Paschalides, former Minister of Macedonia-Thrace; Spyros Pengas, Deputy Mayor for International Relations; and William McGrew, former President of Anatolia College.

Professor of World Religions at ACT, Greek ambassador of Globethics, head of the environmental campaign at the Center for Ecumenical, Missiological and Environmental Studies (CEMES), a frontman in the indie-rock band “The Gang”. Nikos Dimitriadis is a genuine performer - a "rock star" as the Huffington Post wrote.

He gives concerts for thousands of people, promotes environmental justice among young people worldwide through his music project called "Smile", and at the same time keeps his energy and spirit up for his students at ACT.

Globethics, Religion, Environmental Consciousness. And rock music. What is the common ground between these fields?

You can find common ground in themes that, at first sight, look different and then start building a relationship on them. This is how I live my life. For me it’s so natural to live with all those mentioned and even more in my everyday practice. First, they all have to do with ethics, conducts and performances. 

Take for example, rock music. Rock is not a genre; is an attitude. Playing my music is an exhilarating experience. I have exactly the same feeling when I am in class teaching ethics. Singing and teaching are both performances. You give your best in front of an audience. 

What are the updates and the results of your world tour? How do people respond to this a music project that carries a message?

To start with, it was a great experience. This world is so colorful and diverse and that’s its beauty. There are so many identities! People think in different ways, act differently but there is common ground that unite us all. I think this is a common, yet unwritten code of ethics. In order to understand someone’s perspective you should first understand their context. A world tour helps you realize this. The Smile World Tour does not convey a common message to all. It’s more of a suggestion to look things from a different perspective. I would say that “SMILE” it’s not a theory. It’s more of an action. It enhances you to perform, which brings us to performance again.

What has this experience offered you on a personal level? Is it useful for your teaching?

A World Tour can definitely offer you a lot. As a Historian of Religions, I experienced and materialized many things I was reading all those years during my personal research. Through World Religions one can examine the religious beliefs of persons as they develop through time and space and as we comprehend them in a framework of cultural and psychological data.

A tour offers a unique approach to those data. Interacting with people of different cultural, religious or, I’d better say, spiritual beliefs and experiences, can bring you closer to the comprehension of humanity in general through the study of sentiments and attitudes. I think this experience added value also to my teaching. The students’ comments in their evaluations of my teaching make a special reference to the fact that I use real life examples in class during my course on World Religions and this greatly facilitates their understanding of the religious traditions of several spiritual backgrounds we examine.

Can you share with us some of your methods and teaching approaches?

“Imagination is more important than knowledge” said Albert Einstein. I’m trying to light up students' imagination.

Books provide knowledge and the role of the educator is to open this window of knowledge and provide students with the tools to build their own worldview.

Something else I constantly keep in mind is that when a student fails it’s not only a student’s fault. Educators should be always alert to the fact that education and pedagogies are changing and they should try to find ways to make their courses more attractive to their students. 

If I would use only one word to describe my method, I would use the word “interactive”. In class we share experiences and real life examples and we try to understand ourselves, each other and the universality and multiplicity of the various traditions.

What do you enjoy most about ACT? How would you describe it?

Being in class! When I say “class” at ACT I don’t only mean the curricular but also the co-curricular and extracurricular experiences. ACT not only provides but also encourage this way of “learning in action”. 

Thessaloniki’s ACT is a crossroad of civilizations and more than any other institution in the region it offers this intercultural opportunity to our students.

If I would like to describe this teaching experience at ACT I would say that those classes are a journey of discovery both personal and of this world.

Through that journey we become more appreciative of the “experience of being human in the universe”.

It is difficult / to get the news from poems / yet men die miserably every day / for lack / of what is found there. - William Carlos Williams

On Tuesday evening, May 22, over 60 people participated at an event co-organized by the English department of ACT-American College of Thessaloniki and the ΣΑΙΞΠΗΡΙΚόΝ bookstore to discuss the new Greek poetry as brought together in the award-winning bilingual anthology “Austerity Measures/Μέτρα Λιτότητας” (Penguin, New York Review Books, Άγρας). It was the anthology’s first ever presentation in Greece, occasioned by its recent Greek edition.

The event was part of a series established by the ACT English department that aims to bring academic discussions beyond a classroom setting, expanding its boundaries.

Joined by six of the anthology’s poets Yorgos Alisanoglou, Vassilis Amanatidis,
Glykeria Basdeki, Thomas Ioannou, Elsa Korneti and Stamatis Polenakis, the anthology’s editor Karen Van Dyck, Hellenic Studies professor at Columbia University and Eleni Godi, Coordinator of the ACT English undergraduate program, set the background frame and presented the history behind the anthology’s conception and creation. Following the reading of a number of poems and brief statements by the participating poets, the prize-winning playwright and poet Sakis Serefas moderated a lively and thought-provoking discussion that centered around complex but necessary questions: how can one define poetry written at the margins; how did the publishing journey of poetry written in the provinces change at the age of internet; what are the implications of what Serefas called “the foreign perspective” to the new Greek poetry, the editor’s perspective, in this case? Finally, he challenged the use of the term “anthology” for this particular work, calling it “composition” instead. Towards the end, poets took turns and offered their reflection on their own presence within “Austerity Measures”.

The wine and cheese small reception that followed the discussion proved an excellent opportunity for further talk; ACT students had the chance to meet their favorite poet, books were signed, poets mingled with the audience and ideas for future events already started flowing.

Greek Landscape: Paintings by Barry Feldman opens at Bissell Library on the ACT campus of Anatolia College on 25 May, and is scheduled to run through 7 September. The exhibition represents thirty years of the artist’s devotion to the landscape of his adopted country, from Crete in the south to Nevrokopi, Drama, in the north. A main focus is the mountain of Penteskoufi at Ancient Corinth in the Peloponnese. Another concentration is on Thessaloniki and the surrounding area, including Dasos Kouri, and on Halkidiki. Also exhibited are paintings of Naoussa, Pieria, Epirus, Florina, Drama, Santorini and Lemnos. All of the thirty-four paintings are oil on canvas and range in size from 60 x 75 cm to 125 x 175 cm.

Barry Feldman, a native of New York City, studied art history at Swarthmore College. He settled in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where he received a Canada Council Arts Award for his landscape paintings. His work has also been shown in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and North Carolina. In 1989 he moved to Thessaloniki, and was one of the founders of the Artists Initiative Amalgama.

His paintings – landscape, still life and self-portraits – as well as his “boxes” and sculptures, and his photographs, have been presented in one-man shows at the Mikri Pinakothiki Diagonios, the Dimitria Festival, the American Cultural Center of the U.S. Consulate General of Thessaloniki, the Ionian Center in Athens, the Sani Festival, the French Institute of Thessaloniki, the Vafopoulio Cultural Center; Gallery CEDEFOP, Stereosis Gallery, Art Forum, and Eirmos Gallery. Most recently, his Poussin: Restructured paintings were shown at the Teloglion Foundation of Arts, AUTH.

The 1st Annual Anatolia Lacrosse Cup - the first in Greece for that matter - organized by the American College of Thessaloniki was just the beginning. 1st GEL Pylaia, 2nd GEL Polichni, and Anatolia College High School all entered the field full of enthusiasm to play one of the most popular sports in America.

Many congratulations to 1st GEL Pylaia for winning the cup, and a special thanks to everyone who took part!

The following Anatolia College students participated in the Cup: Elias Zacharopoulos , George Nimatoudis, Panagiota Konstantinou, Aris Koutsopoulos, Panagiotis Damianidis, George Nathaniel, Alexandra Drakaki, Konstantinos Dimistos, Andreas Papadopoulos, Thanasis Arnaoutoglou, Angelos Avgoustinakis, Vassilis Georgiadis, Dimitris Kamaris, Theodora Kessapidou, Vassilis Bakopoulos, Vangelis Benis, Stergios Biala, Lucy Miskia, Nikos Ekonomidis, Valasia Papaioannou, Themis Denertzioglou, Marilia Boutsi.

The team was coached by Christina Daniskas, International Programs Office Fellow at the ACT.

Ms. Karina Iskandarova, a third year student at the American College of Thessaloniki (ACT), has been awarded the Newman Civic Fellowship by Campus Compact. Campus Compact is a US coalition of 1,000+ colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. Its purpose is to build democracy through civic education and community development.

Ms. Iskandarova is studying International Relations with a full scholarship. Karina has been active in Student Government and initiated the successful collection of food and other suppliesfor the Thessaloniki's Homeless Shelter and for the refugees in the city. She applied for the Humanity in Action scholarship (through the 'Humanity in Action', an international educational organization) and for the summer scholarship for young student leaders through the Fulbright institution. Although she did not eventually receive any of the two scholarships, she was short - listed to both and went through the interview process.

More recently, she was part of a research project within the Anatolia community, the Oral History Archives Project, through the Bissell Library and received training at the Historical Archives of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece. She interviewed older members of the Anatolia community on issues of greater interest in terms of the educational, social and cultural history of Thessaloniki.

The Newman Civic Fellowship recognizes and supports community-committed students who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country. The fellowship was created in honor of Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact's founders and a tireless advocate for the role of higher education in preparing students for active and engaged citizenship. It provides training and exclusive virtual and in-person learning opportunities focused on the skills fellows need in order to serve as effective agents of change. It helps students to develop strategies for achieving social change, addressing public problems and building equitable communities. Through the fellowship, Campus Compact supports the next generation of public problem solvers in their personal, professional, and civic growth.

In particular, Ms. Iskandarova will be engaged in raising awareness within the ACT and the wider Thessaloniki community regarding the UN Sustainable Development Goals and for the next year she plans to focus on the promotion of literacy and educational opportunities for Roma girls in the region of Thessalonikiunder the supervision of Dr. Maria Patsarika who will be her mentor. Later in 2018 she will be traveling to Boston for the Newman Civic Fellows National Conference that will take place on November 17-18, 2018.

A round table on Greek - Turkish - US relations
Friday, May 18, 17:00 -20:00
Piraeus Bank Conference Center (Katouni 14, Thessaloniki)

Join the event

Greece and Turkey are neighbors, foes, and allies, joined geographically by a unique and occasionally disputed border over land and sea, allied bilaterally the one and the other with the United States, and multilaterally through NATO, while Turkey is also a candidate for membership in the European Union.

In the past weeks, reports in English international media outlets have claimed that Greece and Turkey are closer to war than at any time since 1996, and conversely, more closely aligned, and more peaceful, than ever before.

Tensions remain high, alarmingly so to outside observers, in part owing to the unprecedented uncertainty emanating from the Administration of President Donald J. Trump, the US having long played the role of guarantor of stability in the Aegean.

Add Russian interests in the region, the impact of the ongoing military and refugee crisis in Syria, and challenges to democracy and the rule of law on both sides of the Atlantic (with elections certain in Turkey and in the US, and possible in Greece, in 2018), and you have a volatile mix.
What should one expect going forward? Is the current climate reminiscent in any way of previous periods in local history, or are we called upon to recast this history in a new and potentially unsettling light? Will tensions escalate? Who, if not the US (and NATO), can act as an honest broker in regional affairs?

In a unique collaborative venture, the Dukakis Center and the Center for International and European Studies will convene a distinguished group of scholars, practitioners, and diplomats for a public debate on these and other questions and issues.

Working language: English

Participants

Pavlos Apostolides graduated from the Athens Law School, University of Athens, and served in the Hellenic Diplomatic Service from 1965 to 2004.. Among other posts, he was Ambassador of Greece to Cyprus and Permanent Representative of Greece to the European Union in Brussels. He has also served as General Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Director of the National Intelligence Agency. Ambassador Apostolides was a Director of Alpha Bank A.E. between 2004 and 2011 and has been a Non-Executive Independent Director of Alpha Bank A.E. since June 26, 2012.

Mustafa Aydın is Professor of International Relations at Kadir Has University and, since 2004, the President of the International Relations Council of Turkey. He held the position of Rector of Kadir Has University between February 2010 and March 2018. He is also Governing Board Member of the OECD International Management of Higher Education Programme and a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. Professor Aydın previously worked at Ankara University (1994-2005) and TOBB University of Economics and Technology (2005-2009); and was guest researcher/lecturer at Michigan (1998), Harvard (2002, Fulbright fellow), and Athens (2003, Onassis Fellow) Universities, as well as the Richardson Institute for Peace Studies (1999, Unesco Fellow) and the EU Institute for Security Studies (2003). He is a member of the Global Relations Forum (GIF), International Studies Association (ISA), Turkish Atlantic Council, Turkish Political Sciences Association, International Network on Regional Security, and the European Society for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS). He was a member of the Economy and Foreign Policy Study Group of the President of Turkey (2003-2009); Co-Coordinator of the International Commission on Black Sea (2010); and Director of International Policy Research Institute (2005-2011).

Maria Bozoudi is an international affairs executive with expertise in European integration, the Balkans, diplomacy and globalization. She holds post-graduate degrees from the University of Macedonia and George Washington University., and is currently conducting post-doc research on the history and practices of economic diplomacy. She has worked for more than 15 years on post-conflict Balkan reconstruction, with stints at the Business Advisory Council for Southeastern Europe and Eurasia, the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, and the Business Information Clearing Center. She is currently Adjunct Professor of International Relations at ACT.

Mitat Celikpala is Professor of International Relations and Dean of the Graduate School of Social Sciences at Kadir Has University, where he teaches undergraduate and post-graduate courses. Professor Çelikpala’s subject expertise covers the history, society and security of Eurasia and the former Soviet territories, diaspora studies, the Black Sea region, Turkey-Russia relations, energy security, critical infrastructure security, and the complexities of terrorism. Having concluded his BA at Middle East Technical University, Dr. Çelikpala then received a Master’s degree at Hacettepe University and a PhD at Bilkent University. He is also a Senior Associate Member of Oxford University’s St. Anthony’s College. Dr. Çelikpala has served as an academic advisor to NATO’s Centre of Excellence Defense against Terrorism (DATR), the Turkish Armed Forces’ Strategic Research Centre, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Strategic Research Center.

Serhat Guvenc received his BA and MA degrees from Marmara University and his PhD in Political Science and International Relations from Boğaziçi University, Istanbul. He is currently a Professor of International Relations and Chair of the Department of International Relations at Kadir Has University. Previously he held faculty positions at Istanbul Bilgi University, the University of Chicago, Koç University, and Boğaziçi University. Dr. Güvenç’s research interests include Turkish foreign and security policy and Turkish naval policy and history. He is the author of: The Ottomans’ Quest for Dreadnoughts, Istanbul, 2009, Turkey in the Mediterranean during the Interwar Era (Indiana University Turkish Studies, 2010) (with Dilek Barlas) and 60 Years in NATO: Turkey’s Contributions to Transatlantic Security, (Istanbul, 2013). His articles have appeared in Middle Eastern Studies, International Journal of Naval History, Uluslararası İlişkiler, Exotierika Themata(Greek), Journal of Strategic Studies, GMF Mediterranean Papers, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, International Journal, Turkish Studies and Turkish Policy Quarterly. His most recent article, co-authored with Mesut Uyar, “One Battle, Two Accounts: The Turkish Brigade at Kunu-ri in November 1950” was published in The Journal of Military History. Professor Güvenç is a board member of the Foundation of Lausanne Treaty Emigrants and advisory board member of Koç University’s Maritime Forum (KUDENFOR).

Kostas Ifantis is an Associate Professor of International Relations, Department of International Relations, Kadir Has University and at Panteion University of Athens. He worked as a Lecturer in International and European Politics at the Universities of Bradford and Portsmouth, UK (1991-1995). He was a USIA Visiting Fellow at the Center for Political studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1998) a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (2002), an IAA Senior Research Fellow at the LSE (2009), and a Visiting Professor at the University of Seul (Summer 2016). Between 2005 and 2008 he served as Director for Research at the Policy Planning Center of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His papers have appeared in edited books and in periodicals such as Democratization, Turkish Studies, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Perceptions, International Journal, etc. His books include Greece in a Changing Europe (co-ed., Manchester University Press, 1996); NATO in the New European Order (Macmillan, 1996); Theory and Reform in the European Union (Manchester University Press, 2002); NATO and the New Security Paradigm (Frank Cass 2002); Turkish-Greek Relations: The Security Dilemma in the Aegean (co-ed., Routledge, 2004); International Security Today (co-ed., SAM, 2006); Multilateralism and Security Institutions in an Era of Globalization (co-ed., Routledge, 2009); International Political Theory: and The charm of realist discourse (in Greek, 2012); Is Europe Afraid of Europe? (ed., Wilfrid Martens Center, 2014).

Alexander Karagiannis is a former Foreign Service officer who was senior advisor to the director general of the State Department. He has previously served as DCM in Sofia, and as an office director in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (twice). He has expertise in national security as both practitioner and analyst, specializing in NATO, European, Russian and Mediterranean affairs. Mr. Karagiannis has been visiting associate professor at The George Washington University, and is the co-author of "Building a Foreign Service for 2025 and Beyond."

John Koenig joined the US Foreign Service in 1984 and held a number of senior positions in U.S. diplomatic missions in Europe. A graduate of Foreign Relations from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, he has been posted in East Berlin. Nicosia, Athens, and, as Principal Officer, at the American Consulate General Thessaloniki 2000-03. Between 2003 and 2006, Koenig was Deputy Permanent Representative and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels. From 2012 till his retirement in 2015 he was US Ambassador to Cyprus.

Sotiris Serbos is Assistant Professor of International Politics at Democritus University of Thrace and Research Fellow in European Foreign Policy at Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence of the University of Athens, in Greece. He has served as special adviser in the Hellenic Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Economy. He holdws degrees from the University of Macedonia (BA), the London School of Economics & Political Science (MSc) and the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (Ph.D.). In 2014-2015, he has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in the field of transatlantic relations at The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the University of Pittsburgh’s EU Center of Excellence. His research interests include international organizations, European integration and foreign policy analysis, with emphasis on Southast Europe, Greek and Turkish foreign policy. His policy experience includes memberships at Gerson Lehrman Group’s Policy & Economics Council and Capvision International.

Dimitrios Triantaphyllou is the Director of the Center for International and European Studies at Kadir Has University since September 2010, where he is also an Associate Professor of International Relations. He holds a BA in Political Science and History from the University of California, Berkeley and an MA and PhD in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He was previously Director General of the International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS) and Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of the Aegean, Rhodes (2006-2010). He was also Special Advisor at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic (2004-2006); Senior Research Fellow at the Hellenic Observatory of the European Institute at the LSE (2003-2004); Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Security Studies of the European Union, Paris (2001-2003); Research Fellow at the Institute for Security Studies of the Western European Union, Paris (1999-2001); Deputy Director of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), Athens (1996-99); and Foreign Policy Advisor to a member of the European Parliament (1995). He has written and edited a number of books and articles pertaining to European security, developments in the Black Sea region and South-Eastern Europe, and Greek foreign policy. He is also Associate Editor of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies (SSCI-indexed), a member of the Greek-Turkish Forum, and a co-convener of the Commission on the Black Sea.

David Wisner holds a Ph.D. in Modern History from the University of Rochester. He has written on the French Revolution, neo-idealist epistemology, and neo-classical art in various peer reviewed journals. He has also published one monograph, in the series Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century (Oxford). Since coming to Greece in the mid-1990s he has been particularly active in such issues as civic education, public policy, and US involvement in Southeast Europe, having participated in events and projects organized by the World Bank, the Bertelsmann Foundation, the Stability Pact, the German Marshall Fund, the US Embassy in Athens and the US Consulate General in Thessaloniki, among others. He appears regularly to discuss US and international politics on Greek radio and television, and writes occasional commentary for a Greek newspaper. In his capacity as Director of the Dukakis Center Dr. Wisner has also organized innumerable lectures, round tables, and workshops on national, regional, and international public policy issues. At ACT he conducts advanced seminars in US Policy in Southeast Europe, contemporary diplomacy, and political theory. He also teaches a prototype freshman pro-seminar in citizenship education.

Download the program

The American College of Thessaloniki is proud to announce the 4th Summer Music Program, from 28 June - 8 July, 2018.  The program draws together top international performing artists, creating a world class event featuring master classes, lectures, discussion panels, concerts, and an opera production.   The program aligns itself with the Anatolia College goals of being a premier educational institution in the region, known for its innovative and quality education and its internationally oriented participants body. 

Participants in the program will enjoy master classes on Voice/Opera, Flute/Flute Ensemble, Violin, Cello, Piano, Chamber Music and Composition. Additionally, participants and community members are invited to attend concerts, lectures and discussion panels on pedagogy, performance anxiety, relaxation techniques on body tension and career orientation. Each participant will take 5 lessons (in a master class setting) with the teacher of their choice and is encouraged to use the practice rooms and to attend the lectures, concerts, discussions, panels and productions. Participants (in double occupancy rooms) and invited artists will be staying at the four star Hotel Panorama which is located close to the Anatolia College Campus. 

All participants will have free passes for unlimited access to the gym, swimming pool and outdoor movie cinema theater of Panorama and will enjoy excursions to the archaeological sites of Thessaloniki and a day trip to Halkidiki, a beautiful summer resort area of Northern Greece with exotic beaches. 

For more information and to enroll, please visit www.musicanatoliacollege.com or email musicanatoliacollege.com

Free Lacrosse Clinic

Saturday May 12 2018, Anatolia College Alumni Soccer Field

10:00 – 13:00

&

New date

1st Lacrosse Cup

Tuesday May 15 2018, Anatolia College Alumni Soccer Field

10:00 – 13:00

Anatolia College is organizing the Greece’s first ever Lacrosse tournament!  The games will be held on May 15, starting at 10am at the Anatolia Alumni Soccer Field, with the participants being the 2^nd Polichni High school, 1^st Pylaia High School and Anatolia College.

Nicknamed “the fastest sport on two feet”, lacrosse is a fast paced and competitive team sport that has its origins in the Native American sport which communities would play in preparation for war.  The goal of the game is similar to that of many sports – to get the ball in the net of the opposite team using a special stick.

Anatolia College and the American College of Thessaloniki - ACT have played a significant role in spreading the sport of lacrosse in Greece by creating an Anatolia High School club lacrosse team and organizing these historical games. With efforts starting in 2017 to bring lacrosse to the school level of play along with collaboration with the Greece Lacrosse Association and the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL), Anatolia College organized the first lacrosse clinic. The Anatolia HS lacrosse club consisting of gymnasium student athletes was set into motion in 2018 by the ACT Fellow Christina Daniskas. Today, three lacrosse teams have been created in Thessaloniki (1^st Pylaia High School, 2^nd Polichni High School and Anatolia College).

Tuesday, May 15 2018 - Game Schedule

10:00 1st Pylaia HS – 2nd Polichni HS
11:00 2nd Polichni HS – ANATOLIA
12:00 ANATOLIA – 1st Pylaia HS
12:45 Awards

Saturday, May 12 2018

Free Open Lacrosse Clinic by Coach Stephy Samaras & Christina Daniskas

Anatolia Alumni Soccer Field, 10:00-13:00

Saturday May 12th, there will be a free open clinic for coaches, athletes and all interested parties.  The clinic, which begins at 10am at Anatolia Alumni Soccer Field, will be led by a Lacrosse Coach from the US, Stephy Samaras.

*The same clinic will be run in Trikala and Larissa. In case of rain, the seminar will be held at ACT.