MA in Crisis and Historical Change

MA in Crisis and Historical Change
Crisis and Historical Change is an intensive one-year postgraduate program offering a Master’s degree (75 ECTS credits). It is organized by the Department of Social Anthropology and History, and was launched in 2015-16.

The Program focuses on historical change, i.e. on the large-scale and significant transformations that affect, often by leaps and bounds, social organization, economic processes, ways of thinking and everyday life. Historical research has shown that such major transformations are associated with or accompanied by periods of crisis, as the old collides with the new. And, of course, each crisis has different characteristics, depending on time and society. The concepts of  crisis and historical change are therefore fundamental interpretative tools for understanding the evolution of human societies, and are at the heart of history as an academic discipline.

The Program provides a comprehensive review of the question of historical change in the major fields of human action, through concrete historical examples. At the same time, it trains students in the methodological tools and analytical approaches of contemporary historical research.

Courses start in the first week of the winter semester of each academic year. There are three compulsory courses in the winter and two in the spring semester, each of which is awarded 10 ECTS credits.

In the course of the spring semester, students select a topic and start conducting research for their Master’s thesis. In June, they present a paper on the methodology and research questions at a special academic workshop, which is awarded 10 ECTS credits.

The summer period is devoted to research and the writing of the Master’s thesis, which must be delivered by September 30. The thesis should be 10,000-15,000 words long and is awarded 15 ECTS credits.

Attendance of the five courses (three in the winter and two in the spring semester) and the presentation of a paper at the workshop in June is compulsory. If a student fails a course, he or she may retake the course once in the next examination period, i.e. in June for the winter semester and in September for the spring semester. Clarification on the obligations and assessment of students is given in the information for each course offered.

Until March 15 students must have selected a topic for their Master’s thesis and have found a supervisor. The final title of the thesis must be submitted to the MA Secretariat between 1 and 15 May.

At the end of the summer period, which coincides with the end of the September examination period, and after obtaining the agreement of the supervisor, students submit an electronic copy of the Master’s thesis to the MA Secretariat. The thesis is publicly defended and graded by the three members of the Examination Committee in October or  November. If the thesis is not awarded a passing grade, the student has the right to resubmit it during the examination period of the winter semester. In that case, the thesis is publicly defended and graded in February or March. If the thesis is not awarded a passing grade in the second attempt, the student cannot obtain the Master’s degree.

MASTER’S THESIS

DIRECTOR
Eleni Gara, Associate Professor
COORDINATING COMMITTEE
Vicky Iakovou, Assistant Professor (tenured)
Giorgos Plakotos, Assistant Professor (tenured)
Ioannis Smarnakis, Lecturer (tenured)
Pothiti Hantzaroula, Associate Professor


FACULTY
Eleni Gara, Associate Professor
Vicky Iakovou, Assistant Professor (tenured)
Christodoulos Bellas, Retired Associate Professor
Giorgos Plakotos, Assistant Professor (tenured)
Ioannis Smarnakis, Lecturer (tenured)

Secretary
University Hill, Administration Building 81 100 Mitilini
Tel: +30 22510 36331
Email: historical-change@sa.aegean.gr

Timetable

1st Semester, Academic Year 2023-2024
Classes start on 02/10/2024
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY
18.00-21.00 CHC-1 Theories of historical alteration: The idea of progress and its critics CHC-9 Critical Decisions in the Post-Civil War Greek Economy CHC-3 Socio-economic transformation: The crisis of the 17th century and the transformation of the Ottoman world
Vicky Iakovou Christodoulos Bellas Eleni Gara
ROOM
C-ENVIRONMENT
synchronous distance learning ROOM
C-ENVIRONMENT

Courses Offered

1st Semester

CHC-1 Theories of historical alteration: The idea of progress and its critics
Vicky Iakovou
CHC-3 Socio-economic transformation: The crisis of the 17th century and the transformation of the Ottoman world
Eleni Gara
CHC-9 Critical Decisions in the Post-Civil War Greek Economy
Bellas Christodoulos

2nd Semester

CHC-10 Tolerance, Persecution and Otherness in Europe, 15th-18th centuries
Plakotos Giorgos
CHC-2 Ruptures in Macro- and Microhistory: The Byzantine world after 1204
Smarnakis Ioannis
CHC-6 Historical research and presentation in a special Workshop
Thesis Supervisor

Summer Term

Master’s thesis