No less than 69 U.S. students are participating in ACT's 5 week summer study abroad program this year. Students come from various states and are recruited mostly through the 30 plus U.S. partner schools that ACT has agreements with.

Students enroll in academic courses such as management, history, politics, Greek language, philosophy, anthropology, computer science and even open sea sailing. However the highlight of the semester consists in the many field trips that are organized by the International Programs Office, which give the students the opportunity to visit the towns of Macedonia, exceptional museums and sites such as those in Vergina, Pella, Dion. By the end of their first overnight tip to Corfu or Athens,. these students are callingThessaloniki their 'home'.

20 of these summer students are here on full scholarships to attend a  special program called the Pella Project or the Hellenic Birthright Project. They are taking a humanities course focused on the World of Alexander the Great and a Museum Practicum. These students, which all have Greek Heritage, have in their most part never been to Greece before. Many of them are in fact the first member of the family to come back to the 'home land', so this becomes a once-in-a-livetime journey; it is the journey of discovering one's roots and one's full identity. During their 4 day trip across Eastern Macedonia, Thrace and Turkey the students will be visiting monuments such as Agia Sophia and having a personal session with the Patriarch of Constantinople. They will be visiting Toia, where young Alexander sacrificed to the Gods in hopes for a successful campaign in Asia; possibly these choice students will be praying for devine protection as they embark on their own adult life journey which is just beginning.

Thursday, June 20 • 19:00 p.m.
IANOS Bookstore (7, Aristotelous Str.)
The Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service
Cordially welcomes you to a book panel

Harris Mylonas
Elliott School of International Affairs
George Washington University

“The Politics of Nation-Building:
Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities”
(Cambridge University Press, 2013)

With co-discussants
Prof. Othon Anastasakis, University of Oxford
Prof. George Th. Mavrogordatos, University of Athens
Prof. Nikos Marantzidis, University of Macedonia

Moderator: David Wisner
Executive Director Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center
for Public and Humanitarian Service ACT

RSVP at 2310 398 220  Marina Charitopoulou

_____________________________________________

Πέμπτη, 20 Ιουνίου • 19:00 μ.μ.
Βιβλιοπωλείο IANOS (Αριστοτέλους 7)
Το Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service
του American College of Thessaloniki – ACT
σας προσκαλεί στην παρουσίαση του βιβλίου του

Χάρη Μυλωνά
Επίκουρου Καθηγητή Πολιτικής Επιστήμης
 στο  Πανεπιστήμιο George Washington

«The Politics of Nation-Building:
Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities»
(εκδόσεις Cambridge University Press, 2013).

Το βιβλίο θα παρουσιάσουν οι:
 Όθων Αναστασάκης, Καθηγητής Πανεπιστημίου της Οξφόρδης
Γιώργος Θ. Μαυροκορδάτος, Καθηγητής του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
Νίκος Μαραντζίδης, Καθηγητής Πανεπιστημίου Μακεδονίας  

Συντονίζει ο Dr David Wisner,
Διευθυντής του  Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service του ACT

RSVP: 2310 398 220 Μαρίνα Χαριτοπούλου

American College of Thessaloniki (ACT), a non-profit, private  post-secondary division of Anatolia College, announces a scholarship opportunity for qualifying students of Armenian descent.  Those interested in studying at ACT should kindly contact the Admissions office at 2310.398.398 or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by May 20, 2013.

 ACT's comprehensive undergraduate curriculum leads to Bachelor’s degrees in Business (with 5 Concentrations), Business and Computing, International Relations and English (with 2 Concentrations).  Moreover, the college offers a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) with concentrations in Banking & Finance, Entrepreneurship, Management and Marketing.

Το American College of Thessaloniki (ACT) , το τμήμα μεταλυκειακής εκπαίδευσης του Κολλεγίου Ανατόλια ενημερώνει για τη δυνατότητα υποτροφιών σε νέους και νέες Αρμενικής καταγωγής.

Οι ενδιαφερόμενοι που επιθυμούν να φοιτήσουν στο ACT παρακαλούνται να επικοινωνήσουν με το 2310.398.398 ή να στείλουν email στο This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. έως τις 20 Μαΐου 2013.

Το ολοκληρωμένο πρόγραμμα σπουδών του ACT (www.act.edu) οδηγεί σε πτυχία Bachelor στη Διοίκηση Επιχειρήσεων (5 ειδικότητες), στην Εφαρμοσμένη Πληροφορική (Business & Computing)  σε Διεθνείς Σχέσεις & Διπλωματία και σε Αγγλική Φιλολογία και New Media (2 ειδικότητες).

Επίσης, το ACT προσφέρει ένα ιδιαίτερα αξιόλογο μεταπτυχιακό πρόγραμμα υψηλών απαιτήσεων στη Διοίκηση Επιχειρήσεων  (ΜΒΑ) με κατευθύνσεις στα Τραπεζικά, Χρηματοοικονομικά, στην Επιχειρηματικότητα, τη Διοίκηση και το Μάρκετινγκ.

This cogent case study, analyzes the corporate governance of Anatolia College, a leading educational institution in Greece located in Thessaloniki. More generally, it is an introduction to the structure, composition, culture,
and challenges of the Boards of Trustees governing American nonprofit organizations (NPO’s). The focus is on how such boards are set up to best fulfill their oversight and fundraising responsibilities.
As Greece reviews governance, financing, and development issues, Anatolia’s time-tested and successful NPO model is noteworthy. Well-run NPO’s couple private initiative, leadership and funding with state enablement in legal and tax regulation. They facilitate developing services for the common good guided by community needs. Serge Hadji-Mihaloglou, is a New York corporate lawyer and Anatolia
Alumnus and Trustee. Preliminary remarks headed by Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris and Aristotle University Law Professor Anastasia Grammaticaki-Alexiou underscore the contribution of this original work.

Angelos Chaniotis, Professor of Ancient History and Classics at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, was the featured speaker at the American College of Thessaloniki on April 17, with a humorous yet informative lecture on "Graffiti in ancient cities – Images and voices of daily life" in the Bissell Library, attended by a large and enthusiastic audience of students, faculty and staff, and friends of the college. Professor Chaniotis' basic premise was that mute images can be brought to reveal the voices of times past if the proper attention to context is observed by the historian. He showed slides of a host of graffiti he has studied in the ruins of Aphrodisias, near the modern city of Smyrna in Asia Minor, which pertain to all sorts of scenes of daily life in that important and bustling site. This was Professor Chaniotis' first visit to ACT and Anatolia, but promised not to be the last.

ACT hosts a workshop on Activism, Creative Participation and Democracy,

with a focus on anti-corruption and anti-racism.

Governments serve the public….right?  Rule of law and police forces protect the public….right?  But what if they don’t?

A government is more powerful that the individual, right?   The notion of a ‘social contract’ is just a theoretical ideal, isn’t it?

In an age of new media, anyone can be an activist.  Once a story breaks, it is not owned by anyone or under anyone’s control - not the person who wrote it, the person who features in it and certainly not the company that owns a newspaper of tv station.

 The transmission of news is becoming democratized and internationalized  and this is the key weapon of the citizen in the fight against corruption, unfair policies and racism.  Kostas Kallergis (anti corruption blogger), Damian Mac Con Uladh (activist journalist focusing on racism) and Maggie Nolan, (of the anti-racist, anti-fascist group KEERFA) were guest speakers at ACT’s Inspiration Exchange Event ‘Activism, creative participation and democracy’ which explored issues of citizen journalism, anti-racist actions and how to challenge corruption.

With a common theme of the power of the individual and small groups of people in confronting injustice, the three speakers highlighted how the tools available to the average person (Facebook, Twitter, blogging and human interaction) can be and ARE more powerful than any country’s restrictions or attempts to limit expression.

Mr Kallergis introduced the term ‘punishment by publication’ and noted that the means of implementing this owes much to the freedom of the ‘blog-sphere’.  The old media relies on advertisers and corporate input, therefore the journalists can never be entirely free, whereas the internet has the capacity to truly live up to the ideal of the press as the 4^th estate; as a check on the powers of the 3 branches of government, and their interaction with business.

This role of the press as a watchdog of government and big business is something that all citizens can participate in, on a daily basis and through this, can hold politicians to the ‘social contracts’ that they enter into when they make election promises and policies.  

Defining corruption as ‘any deviation from an ideal’ Mr Kallergis demonstrated that one doesn’t need  sophisticated technology, expensive equipment or expertise to fight corruption, simply the will and the means to get the story out somewhere….anywhere…. and it will be picked up, circulated, magnified and will become a weapon to make voices heard.

Social media has dramatically changed the relationship between the journalist, the press company and the reader, stated Damian Mac Con Uladh, and continues to break down the distinction between the three.  Twitter, smart phones, Facebook and blogs allow readers to become the creators of the news and the shift in power between who owns the means of production of the ‘news’, who defines what ‘news’ is and who reports it and how, as undergone a sea change in recent years.

Citing the horrific incident of Walid, an Egyptian immigrant in Salaminas who was tortured by his employer (a former vice-mayor), that resulted in Walid’s arrest(!), Mr Mac Con Uladh  illustrated the pivotal role of the social media in getting the story out – not just nationally, but internationally- despite the ministries’ press offices denying access to the main actors and the mainstream broadcast and print press not reporting on the story at all.

The pressure via the social media explosion of interest in the story was probably key to ensuring that Walid wasn’t deported.

Accusations of torture by the police, the racist attacks on immigrants and the policies that restrict freedoms and rights that are reported on by UNHCR and Amnesty International about Greece never appear in the mainstream media, but it is citizen blogging, Tweeting and sharing, that forces the light of disclosure onto the murky corners of violations and silence.

Continuing with the theme of the rise of racism in Greece, Maggie Nolan of KEERFA, spoke about the rise in fascism in Europe in general over the past 5 years and highlighted the tragedies of migrants drowning, families being put in detention camps and the abuses of rights and freedoms of refugees seeking asylum in Greece – at the hands of both private citizens and the police.

She emphasized that while the social media plays a vital role in communication and the spreading of information and organizing of groups against racism, there is still a great need for people to meet.  Large numbers of people showing solidarity, visibly, has to accompany any online activism in order to make an unambiguous statement that there are large groups of people, organized and willing to get out on the streets, go into schools and say ‘never again’!

Ms Nolan highlighted several alarming cases of the unchecked and un-opposed power of various far-right groups in taking the law into their own hands and in spreading hate and violence.  She also pointed out that racism isn’t limited to groups of people organized under their own volition, but also institutionalized in the immigration policies and the government operations, such as  ‘Xenios Dias’ (the police ‘scoops’ of illegal immigrants off the streets and into detention centers) the denial of permits to build places of worship or the refusal of citizenship to 2^nd generation migrants who were born and have grown up in Greece.

 A lively discussion followed which included issues of how to deal with racist actions of individuals, (such as a young footballer making a Nazi salute)forgiveness, how to get active and also, slightly surreally, the central role of yogurt in expressing dissent! 

The struggles are ongoing and should anyone wish to follow the work of any of the guests, please find details below:

KEERFA: http://www.antiracismfascism.org/

Kostas Kallergis’ Blog: http://www.crisisrepublic.com/

Dear Members of the Anatolia Community,

I am pleased to announce that the Board of Trustees of Anatolia College has appointed Dr. Panos Vlachos as the 11th President of Anatolia, effective as of noon, on Friday, April 19^th, 2013.  The vote was unanimous.

The search process, involved a careful, thorough, global search for the best candidates. Ultimately three finalists were interviewed by the Search Committee of the Board, co-chaired by trustees Chip Elfner and Serge Hadji-Mihaloglou, visited campus in Thessaloniki and met with a broad range of cabinet members, school leaders, students, parents, alumni, and Greek trustees.  

Anatolia has been very fortunate in its leaders and in having a world-wide community that supports this exceptional and unique school. The Board is very pleased to have secured a leader with very strong academic and administrative experience, broad knowledge of the institution at all levels, a deep loyalty to it and a vision for its future that is well thought out, exciting and achievable.

Having worked closely with Dr. Vlachos during his term as Acting President, I am confident that he will continue to provide outstanding leadership for the entire Anatolia community – students, faculty, staff, parents and alumnae/i.

Dr. Panos Vlachos was appointed Acting President of Anatolia College in August 2012. Prior to this, he served in a variety of administrative leadership positions at The American College of Thessaloniki (“ACT”) for the past 15 years. In 2009 he was appointed Vice President for Academic Affairs at Anatolia and Provost of ACT serving also as the institutional-wide chief of Libraries and Information Technology.  

Dr. Vlachos, has taught for over 20 years at the graduate and undergraduate level. He has supervised a number of large-scale Information Technology projects and his academic research has been published in the Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, the Journal of Applicable Analysis, the Journal of Dynamic Systems and Applications and other academic journals. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, an MSc in Mathematics and a Ph.D in Applied Sciences from the University of Rhode Island in the USA.

Dr. Vlachos is married to Maria Chatzikefala and they have a son, Orestis, and a daughter, Niovi, who are both attending Anatolia.

Please join the Board in warmly welcoming Dr. Panos Vlachos to his new position.

Sincerely,

John H. Clymer

Chairman of the Board of Trustees

The Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service of the American College of Thesaloniki will host the fifth ACT/SEESOX Salonica Seminar during the summer of 2013.

The Seminar is convened by Dr. Othon Anastasakis, Director of the European Studies Centre and South East European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX), St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, and consists of a series of advanced undergraduate lectures on European integration and Aegean and Balkan affairs by scholars affiliated with SEESOX.

Politics 360 “From European Union to European Eurozone Crisis: Challenges, Perspectives and the Greek Case”

The principal objective of this seminar is to provide an advanced overview of the development, institutions, policies and international relations of the European Union (EU), one of the key players in present-day global affairs. A particular attention will be paid to challenges of deepening and widening of the European Union, to the EU’s ever expanding role in neighbouring regions and countries such as the Western Balkans, Turkey and the Mediterranean as well as its place in the processes and institutions of global governance. The seminar will pay special attention to the present euro-zone crisis and the position of Greece at the epicentre of this crisis.

College and university students from the US can earn three transferable credits for the seminar. A limited number of half-tuition awards are available for qualified applicants interested in enrolling formally in the course.

The dates for the seminar are June 19-July 22, 2013. For more information see here, or contact Ms Roula Lebetli at 30 2310 398 389.

The Institutions

South East European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX) is part of the European Studies

Centre, St Antony’s College, Oxford and focuses on the interdisciplinary study of the relationship between European integration and the politics, economics and societies of the region, including Greece, Turkey and Cyprus. Drawing on the academic excellence of the University of Oxford and an international network of associates, it conducts academic and policy relevant research on the multifaceted transformations of the region in the 21st century. It follows closely conflict and post-conflict situations and analyzes the historical and intellectual influences which have shaped perceptions and actions in the region.

The American College of Thessaloniki (ACT) provides a top quality tertiary-level, multidisciplinary, student-centered, educational experience in Greece by:

• Offering American-style higher education in the areas of business, humanities, social sciences and information technology to a diverse student body originating primarily from Europe and North America, with an emphasis on innovative learning that prioritizes critical inquiry, information literacy, and breadth and depth of knowledge of both local and global phenomena, with English as the principal language of instruction;

• Cultivating the personal and ethical growth of well-rounded and principled individuals with expanded intellectual horizons, a heightened sense of citizenship, and the need for social contribution;

• Contributing meaningfully to the wider communities of Greece and Southeast Europe through its educational, cultural, professional, and service activities, hence projecting the societal responsibilities of the institution and enhancing international understanding and friendship.

The vision of ACT is to be the premier, internationally-oriented, English-language college of tertiary education in the Balkan region serving to promote both innovative learning and humanitarian values.

The mission of the Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service is to provide a dynamic contemporary student-centered civic education, with a view toward inspiring young people to become involved in public affairs; train youth for leadership roles in regional and international affairs; and contribute meaningfully through academic instruction, applied research, and professional outreach to cooperation and peaceful co-existence in Greece, Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, and the larger Euro-Atlantic community.

Learn more about our Study Abroad programs, please click here.

In a crowded Town Hall meeting, organized by the Tourism Association of Molyvos, on March 27, 2013, the MBA program, Anatolia School of Business presented the Strategic Marketing Plan and Rebranding recommendations for Molyvos/Mithimna and, by extension, the island of Lesvos. The project was completed by a select team of 5 MBA students, Elke Veenendaal, Irini Tserepi, Aleks Buda, Margaux Pauwels and Giorgos Kartaltzis, as part of an advanced marketing  course in the MBA program, led by the MBA Marketing professor,Mr. Mousiades.  The project was initiated by Dan and Helen Lindsay who were also the major sponsors of the ‘Molyvos project’ and coordinated by  Dr. Sevasti Kessapidou, MBA Director.

 Molyvos has in recent years experienced a substantial decline in tourism and the realization has brought together members of the community to form a Non-Profit Council, Tourism Association of Molyvos,  to advance tourism in the area.  The MBA team analyzed the causes of the tourism decline and presented viable alternatives to reverse  the decline, including targeting varied vertical “niche” tourism segments, changes appropriate to the area’s tourism “product”, its sales channels, its image and overall brand identity, and its promotional efforts.  The recommended branding proposition for Molyvos/Mithimna  has generated the most positive feedback and received extensive coverage in the local media.

The CCIS annual conferences provide members, prospective members, and host institutions colleagues from abroad, the opportunity to discuss issues and current events in the field of international education.