Greek Heritage in European Culture and Identity

Project Information

GrECI

Grant agreement ID: 101079379

DOI

10.3030/101079379

Project closed

EC signature date 12 August 2022

Start date 1 January 2023

End date 31 December 2025

Funded under

• Widening participation and spreading excellence

Total cost

€ 1 494 375,00

EU contribution

€ 1 494 375,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS
Cyprus

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GrECI (Greek Heritage in European Culture and Identity)

Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2025-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The project ‘Greek Heritage in European Culture and Identity’ (GrECI) explores a key phase in the formation of European identity: the reception and appropriation of ancient Greek culture in early modern Europe, namely between the 15th and the 17th century. This timeframe covers the period from the so-called ‘rediscovery’ of Greek language and literature in the early Italian Renaissance to their full incorporation in the wider European cultural landscape before the Enlightenment. Furthermore, GrECI aims to examine this complex historical subject and its implications as a process, which can produce a deeper understanding and a number of conclusions regarding the emergence of modern notions of European identity.
GrECI operates within an interdisciplinary and international framework, with a consortium of three partners from Cyprus (University of Cyprus), Norway (University of Oslo), and France (University of Franche-Comté). The three partners have joined forces from different disciplines pivotal in understanding early modern Hellenism: the history of the book and digital heritage studies (UCY), language and literature studies (UiO), and intellectual history/Reformation studies (uFC), with a shared emphasis on the reception and appropriation of Greek heritage in early modern Europe.

Inline with the Twinnig call, the main objectives of GECI can be summarised as follows:

1. Develop excellence in UCY’s programmes in Early modern cultural history (focus on the reception of Greek learning in various branches of learned culture).
2. To promote mutual learning and two-way benefit from and to all partners, including UiO and uFC.
3. Establish an international, multidisciplinary framework for the study of early modern Hellenism with the three partner institutions of this consortium as the leading triad.
4. Make a broader impact on the scholarly community and society at large.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The GrECI consortium is targeting a complex set of objectives, which can be broken down in three focus areas:

(a) the subject of the reception of Hellenism in early modern Europe and the research excellence that will be effectuated through the collaboration of the three partners;

On this objective, apart from research conducted in each of the three universities, the GrECI are set to organize four research meetings on the four thematic foci of the project. Three have already taken place ‘Greek Books and Europe’s Common Culture' (Book History, UCY, 1-2 June 2023); 'The Material Heritage of Ancient Greece: A Common European Culture?' (Cultural Heritage and Digital Media, Norwegian Institute in Athens, 1-2 February 2024), 'The Greek Language and European Identities' (Language and Literature Studies, UiO, 23-24 May 2024). The last one 'Hellenism and Europe's Religious Identities' (Reformation studies), will take place at uFC (May 2025)

(b) knowledge transfer and advances in research management;

Through a series of online and two in-person meetings so far, GrECI has facilitated a series of knowledge exchanges, which have been instructive for all three universities. The activities set out in the WP2 Action Plan, which include webinars, workshops, and exchange visits, have facilitated a knowledge transfer beneficial both for the Research and Support Service of UCY, as well as UiO and uFC. Beyond this, the three partner universities have been working together (as part of the Action Plan) in exchanging expertise, and have been sharing, as well as creating valuable materials regarding the lifetime of a project, from application to completion, that concern project support and management (and will also include useful tips for grant applications in the humanities). Additionally, three workshops organized so far (December 2023 at uFC, May 2024 at UiO, and June 2024 at UCY focusing on developing research networks, impact in the humanities, budget planning and grant writing in the humanities have benefited early career and advanced researchers, and research management of all three universities.

(c) the significance that the research subject has for contemporary debates on the question of European identity.

This will be addressed with two outreach and stakeholders’ meetings, followed by opinion pieces in the national presses and online blogs. A two-day summer school in Cyprus, on the ‘Teaching of Classics, Languages and History in European National Curricula’ is taking place in Cyprus (10-11 June 2024), addressed to educators, education and cultural policy makers, students, pupils, and the wider interested public. A second, follow-up event is being organized at uFC on the 17th of October with the tentative tile ‘The Greek Heritage in European Culture and Identity: Problems and Perspectives’ which will also be addressed at similar target groups. The conclusions of the event will also be published through reports and press releases in all three national languages of the consortium (in addition to English), through the project’s channels of communication, as well as the local press, having an impact on a local, as well as international level.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

We anticipate that the published results of the first two research meetings will open new avenues of research. The papers presented at the research meeting ‘Greek Books and Europe’s Common Culture’ (University of Cyprus, Nicosia, 1-2 June) are already under contract to be published with the publishing house Brill, by the foremost important series in the field of book history. The volume will constitute the first of its kind, paving the way for further research.

The second research meeting on 'The Material Heritage of Ancient Greece in Early Modern Europe. New Approaches and Perspectives' (Norwegian Institute in Athens, 1-2 February 2024) brought together scholars from the field of literature, philology history, archaeology, material culture, digital humanities, history of art. The meeting was highly successful in provoking thought and exchange and promoting potential research synergies in the fields involved. We anticipate that the two publications (special issues in journals) from this will also open new avenues of research.

Finally, we are confident that the consortium will generate substantial research outcomes, leading the way in this emerging field of the study of early modern Hellenism. Through the organisation of the GrECI Research Meetings, which have attracted the participation of international scholars outside the consortium, our aim is to establish a network that can provide the necessary support for the field’s sustainability in the near future.