Center for Hellenic Studies, Director's Residence (2008)

Center for Hellenic Studies, Stoa Apartments (2008)

The Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS) is a research institute for

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

located in Washington, D.C. at 3100 NW Whitehaven Street. It is affiliated with

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

. Nestled in Rock Creek Park behind

Embassy Row Embassy Row is the informal name for a section of Northwest Washington, D.C. with a high concentration of embassies, diplomatic missions, and diplomatic residences. It spans Massachusetts Avenue N.W. between 18th and 35th street, bounded by ...

, the Center for Hellenic Studies offers a variety of both residential and remote fellowships each year to scholars and researchers working on projects in a variety of fields, including "archaeology,

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the w ...

, history, literary criticism, philology, philosophy, pedagogical applications, reception, and interdisciplinary studies". The center provides housing for "residential" fellows and their families, and accommodates remote fellows and visiting scholars during shorter stays. Fellows are selected by a panel of Senior Fellows, a group of five internationally selected senior classicists. Fellows are typically pre-tenured PhDs from around the world, most often from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

or North America. The "Center", as it is commonly called, has been a stopping point in the careers of many budding classicists who have gone on to be major contributors in the field.

Director of the center

The director of the center is appointed by Harvard University. Michael C.J. Putnam (

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, 1962) was the first director, but acted as a substitute for

Bernard Knox Bernard MacGregor Walker Knox (November 24, 1914 – July 22, 2010Wolfgang Saxon ''The New York Times'', August 16, 2010.) was an English classicist, author, and critic who became an American citizen. He was the first director of the Center ...

(

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

, 1963–1985), the center's first official director. Knox was succeeded by Zeph Stewart (

, 1985–1992), and Stewart by co-directors

Kurt Raaflaub Kurt Arnold Raaflaub (born 15 February 1941, Buea, Cameroon) is a Swiss historian and Emeritus Professor of Classics and History at Brown University, where he taught Greek and Roman history. He is the brother of conductor Beat Raaflaub. Raaflaub ...

and Deborah Boedeker (

, 1992–2000).Lindquist, Eric N. "The Origins of the Center for Hellenic Studies." Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP, 1990.

Gregory Nagy Gregory Nagy ( hu, Nagy Gergely, ; born October 22, 1942 in Budapest)"CV: Gregory Nagy"
''gr ...

became director in 2000 and was succeeded by Mark Schiefsky in 2021.

Campus

The wooded campus has a large

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

as the director's residence, a "stoa" with five apartments for the fellows without families, three

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

s for the fellows with families, two subdivided cottages serving as double residences, five guest-rooms to accommodate visiting scholars, and one cottage that has been transformed into a multi-media conference facility.

History

Starting in 2000, director

Gregory Nagy Gregory Nagy ( hu, Nagy Gergely, ; born October 22, 1942 in Budapest)"CV: Gregory Nagy"
''gr ...

brought a new focus on outreach (both national and international), information technology, publishing, and collaborative research to the Center for Hellenic Studies, as evidenced by the center's dynamic website. In 2003, under Nagy's direction, the center began renovations to transform one of the cottages into a new multi-media conference center. The design plans were drawn up by the architectural firm, Convergeo, and in 2006, the "Digital Agora" was unveiled.

CHS Greece

In 2008, the Center for Hellenic Studies opened a campus in

Nafplio Nafplio ( ell, Ναύπλιο) is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece and it is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important touristic destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in th ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

References

External links