The Athens Center: HISTORY
48 Archimidous Street, Athens 11636, Greece
Phones:(+30) 210 7012-268
(+30) 210 7015-242
Fax: (+30) 210 7018-603
The Athens Centre 1969- 2004
The Athens Centre is a private organization founded by a group of scholars and artists interested in providing educational programs and artistic events for students and adults of all nationalities. Its main activities include a modern Greek language program, and semester abroad programs with participating universities. Cultural activities include an annual touring theatre festival of ancient Greek drama, guest speakers, and exhibits.
Structure
The Centre is a Greek non-profit organization governed by an elected Board of Directors drawn from the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Fulbright Foundation in Greece, The Athens Polytechnic and the Foreign Press Association. It cooperates with Ellinikos Politismos that organizes and administers its Greek Language programs.
The the Athens Centre has been bringing talented poets, artists, scholars, writers, and performers to Greece, from W.H. Auden to R. Buckminster Fuller. Members of the Julliard String Quartet and the Metropolitan Opera have spent summers at the Centre; American poet Jimmy Merrill gave his last reading at the Centre, and Beat poet Gregory Corso was a poet in residence. The director of the Centre has organized sculpture workshops on Naxos, and other programs in Turkey, Egypt, Madrid, Antwerp,Copenhagen, Luxembourg and Lisbon, in the framework of the '' The Cultural Capitals of Europe". Cultural events have been organized with numerous embassies in Athens including the American, Irish, Chinese, Argentinian, French, and other foreign missions.
Links
Over the years the Centre has cooperated, and is still cooperating, with many distinguished organizations. From the University of Chicago to the National Endowment for the Humanities. Current projects at the Centre include the construction of a new administration center, and the cataloging of 500 operas on 78 records and their transcription to CD's.
Direction
The director of the Centre, Yannis Zervos,
has served as cultural advisor to the American Embassy, was
on the Board of Directors of the Cultural Centre of the City
of Athens, is on the Board of Directors of the Fulbright
Foundation in Greece, has served on the Board of The
Partisan Review and has advised cultural organizations
in the United States, Edinburgh, Helsinki and Cyprus.
In June 2003 he was awarded an
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by
The American College of Greece for his work in cultural activities
and education over the last thirty years
The Program Director, Rosemary Donnelly has been involved in overseas educational programs for over 30 years. She maintains regular contact with American universities and colleges, formulates and administers the semester abroad programs.
In February and March 2001, Mr. Zervos addressed, government and private organizations in Nicosia and Limassol, on the Organization of Cultural Activities, under the auspices of the Cyprus Tourist Organization. He was the publisher of Omphalos, A literary review, and has just completed a project for the European Union on Cultural Tourism in the framework of the Leonardo Program.
The Centre is currently co-ordinating a series of cultural
events and activities in Amman,Jordan under the auspices of
the Greek Embassy.
Amman has been designated Cultural Capital of the Arabic world
for 2002-2003
The Ambassador of Pakistan Javed Hafeez and AC Director Yannis Zervos
Philosophy
The Centre plays a unique role as an educational institution.
Its programs emphasize quality instruction in an environment conducive to learning. Individual attention is given to all participants.
The Centre's classes are an enjoyable experience.
Being at the Centre one feels in touch with some of the best elements that Greece has to offer..
Its main facility is a neo-classical building, listed by the Greek Ministry of Culture as a protected work of art, and is surrounded by a courtyard of greenery, statues, clay pots and ancient pieces of marble.
AC director Yannis Zervos; Father William P.Leahy, President of Boston College; R.Nicholas Burns,recent American Ambassador to Greece.
Programs
The Athens Centre modern Greek program enrolls about 600 participants each year ,worldwide. The program covers instruction from beginners to advanced levels. The Athens Centre productions of ancient Greek drama have enabled American actors, students and other professionals, to perform classical plays on - site in ancient and modern amphitheaters in Athens and throughout Greece. A Summer Poetry Workshop is also conducted with readings open for the public. Its cultural programs have included concerts, guest speakers, exhibits, film festivals, book presentations and other non-commercial events .
