Instructors
Georgia Sermamoglou, Ph.D.
Director of Greek Studies on Site
Instructor: The Great Books Program
Georgia Sermamoglou is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Patras, Greece. She holds a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Virginia. She is the author of Playful Philosophy and Serious Sophistry: A Reading of Plato's "Euthydemus" (De Gruyter, 2014) and co-editor of Wisdom, Love, and Friendship in Ancient Greek Philosophy (De Gruyter, 2020). She is currently finishing a book on the relation between knowledge, virtue, and happiness in Plato's early dialogues.
Alexia Zotou, Ph.D.
Instructor: Greek Mythology
Alexia Zotou holds a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Göttingen. She is the author of Carmina Anacreontea 1-34: Ein Kommentar. She has received scholarships from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst and the Graduirtenkolleg der philosophischen Fakultät Göttingen, as well as awards from the Greek National Scholarship Foundation and the Heinz-Maier-Leibniz Institute for Outstanding Research in the Humanities.
Vasko Demou, Ph.D.
Instructor: Athens through the Ages
Vasko Demou holds a Ph.D. in Archaeology from the University of Southampton, UK. His doctoral thesis aims to communicate the long and turbulent history of the Acropolis (and Athens) from the Neolithic to the present. He has worked as an archaeologist in Eleusis, Thrace, and the island of Delos, conducted archaeological ethnography for several research projects in Athens, Thrace, Crete, and the Cyclades, and taught archaeology at the University of Southampton. His current research investigates the therapeutic and relieving potential of archaeological sites for individuals of atypical mental health and others with chronic pain.
Rachel Bruzzone, Ph.D.
Rachel Bruzzone is an Assistant Professor at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. Her area of specialization is Thucydides, the historian of the Peloponnesian War, and especially the way his narrative shows the ethical deterioration of states and individuals in wartime. She particularly enjoys reading texts in translation with students who are discovering ancient literature for the first time. In her spare time, she works with animal rescue groups in Turkey and Greece.
Benjamin Jasnow, Ph.D.
Ben Jasnow is an Assistant Professor at William Jewell College and the co-recipient of the 2013 Fortier Prize for his work on "Mapping the Catalogue of Ships." He holds a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Virginia, where he has taught classes in ancient languages, Greek Civilization, Greek Mythology and Comparative Literature. His dissertation, entitled "What the Shepherds Sing: Popular Culture and Local Identity in the Bucolic Idylls of Theocritus", investigates the relation of the poet to the culture of his native Sicily.
Edith Gwendolyn Nally, Ph.D.
Gwen Nally is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, where she teaches courses in the history of philosophy. She has also taught at Skidmore College and the University of Richmond, and holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Virginia. She writes about Plato's epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophical methodology.
Konstantinos Pattakos
Instructor: Modern Greek
Konstantinos Pattakos studied Greek Philology and Linguistics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. He received his MA in Applied Linguistics from Birkbeck College, University of London. He has worked as a teacher of Greek as a Foreign Language for the British public sector and for the European Commission. He has a standing collaboration with the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and the British School at Athens. In his spare time he sings in a choir and designs board games.
Spyridon Rangos, Ph.D.
Instructor: Greek Philosophy
Spyridon Rangos is Professor of Ancient Greek Literature and Philosophy at the University of Patras. He has been educated as a classicist in Athens, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, and has twice been a research fellow at Princeton University. His recent book, Θαυμάζειν – ἀπορεῖν – φιλοσοφεῖν (Iraklio 2023), explores wonder and perplexity as indispensable experiences for a truly philosophical life.