Table of Contents
Message from the Chair
Associate Professor, Department of Classics
Program Highlights
Five years of the Hellenic Studies minor
This year, the Hellenic Studies minor celebrates its fifth anniversary. The most recent student to graduate with a minor, Classics major Meagan White, is now in her second year at the University of Washington School of Law. White recently completed an internship with the Northwest Justice Project’s King County Veterans Unit, providing legal assistance to low-income veterans as a law clerk. She continues to work with veterans at the UW Law Veterans Clinic and is part of a team helping to write a casebook supplement for a new textbook on property law.
Hellenic Studies named third best program in the United States
In December 2024, The National Herald named the University of Washington Hellenic Studies program as the third best program in the United States, behind Hellenic College Holy Cross and Princeton University. The paper, a weekly journal of the Greek-American community, praised the UW’s program for its “holistic understanding of Greece, with classes spanning the ancient and modern world.”
Student Highlights
2024-25 Hellenic Studies scholars announced
This year, four University of Washington students received over $10,000 in scholarships from the Hellenic Studies program in recognition of their academic work and interest in Greek culture:
The Soulandros Scholarship: Noor Alkaledy (B.A. in Education, Communities, and Organization)
The Kaltsounis Scholarship: Carly Torres (B.A. in Anthropology)
The Eleftherios and Mary Rouvelas Endowed Writing Prize in Hellenic Studies: Luke Giuntoli (M.A. in Classics)
The Irene Kravas Scholarship in Hellenic Studies, which offers financial assistance to undergraduates interested in Hellenic culture, was also awarded during this scholarship cycle.
Study Abroad
Learn. Discover. Experience Greece: Hellenic Studies Summer Program
The Hellenic Studies Summer Program, directed by Jackson School faculty Nektaria Klapaki and Taso Lagos, continues to be a popular choice for University of Washington students seeking immersive cultural and academic experiences abroad. From June 17 to Aug. 16, 20 students split their time between Deree College in Athens and Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies in the historic town of Nafplio in the Peloponnese.
Event Update
Connecting cultures: A year in Hellenic Studies
This year, the UW Hellenic Studies Program hosted international scholars, supported student research, and deepened regional partnerships. Highlights include our involvement in the Gefyra initiative, which connects West Coast universities with scholars and artists from Greece; a talk on Greek-Jewish history by Holocaust historian Leon Saltiel; Fulbright Scholar Maria Papavasilopoulou’s research on Sephardic music and migration; and student presentations at the East Meets West conference conference at California State University, Sacramento.
Faculty News
Curses, chariots, and the underworld: “Magica Levantina” 
Hellenic Studies Chair Alexander Hollmann has published “Magica Levantina,” a co-authored collection of late-antique Greek magical texts from Caesarea and Antioch. The work explores curses used in chariot races, business rivalries, and legal disputes, blending Greek, Egyptian, Near Eastern, and Jewish traditions. This marks Hollmann’s second book following “The Master of Signs: Signs and the Interpretation of Signs in Herodotus’ Histories” in 2011.
Nektaria Klapaki’s milestone year in Greek Studies
Jackson School Lecturer Nektaria Klapaki was named Nikos Kazantzakis Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley, where she delivered the annual Kazantzakis Lecture. She also contributed to a special session at the Modern Greek Studies Association Symposium at Princeton and concluded six years as Arts & Humanities Associate Editor for the Journal of Modern Greek Studies.