The big news today was my visit to class.
I met Stelios at his office and together we walked over to the law college to meet the Comparative Media class. First a word about him. He's the department chair and a very productive scholar (if you click on the above link you'll see more about him). In spite of his administrative duties he still teaches a full-time load (sounds like my BSU chair). The plan was to talk with the students about the class structure. They can either do a paper for me in English or take a final from him in Greek.
(Graffiti on the classroom wall behind him)
Graffiti in the stairwell
Stelios also advised me of the state we might find the classroom. The room is in the law college, which was taken over by protesters in the December riots. Graffiti is everywhere. Here's a protest poster on one of the walls. As he predicted, the classroom projector was missing. I'll provide more pictures next week when I go early for class. Stelios will be in London next week doing presentations so it will be all me. He told me that next week I may have the same four, or twice as many, or three times that.
I met Stelios at his office and together we walked over to the law college to meet the Comparative Media class. First a word about him. He's the department chair and a very productive scholar (if you click on the above link you'll see more about him). In spite of his administrative duties he still teaches a full-time load (sounds like my BSU chair). The plan was to talk with the students about the class structure. They can either do a paper for me in English or take a final from him in Greek. (Graffiti on the classroom wall behind him)
He had already advised me that there would likely be few students in attendance today. Greek students use the first week to "shop" for elective classes. Comparative is an elective. In addition, Greek students only enroll for the exam. There is no compulsory attendance. Some only do the exam and never show up for anything else. Stelios told me that at exams he has had to ask students to show their ID cards so he would know that they were, in fact, students, since he had never seen them. We were both surprised when the Portuguese student told us that attendance is compulsory at her school, and that if a student has three absences, s/he is not allowed to sit for the exam.
True to his word, there were 4 students in the class when we arrived. Three of the four are 
Erasmus students (from other European universities) and although the fourth is technically a Greek student, she's actually Ukraine-Greek. The other three were from Portugal, Poland and Austria (she was born Bosnian but her family evacuated during the war). We discussed the plan for the class, I told them a little about myself and my desire to talk with them outside of class (something not traditionally done).
Erasmus students (from other European universities) and although the fourth is technically a Greek student, she's actually Ukraine-Greek. The other three were from Portugal, Poland and Austria (she was born Bosnian but her family evacuated during the war). We discussed the plan for the class, I told them a little about myself and my desire to talk with them outside of class (something not traditionally done). Graffiti in the stairwell
Stelios also advised me of the state we might find the classroom. The room is in the law college, which was taken over by protesters in the December riots. Graffiti is everywhere. Here's a protest poster on one of the walls. As he predicted, the classroom projector was missing. I'll provide more pictures next week when I go early for class. Stelios will be in London next week doing presentations so it will be all me. He told me that next week I may have the same four, or twice as many, or three times that. We walked back to the department offices, making a brief stop at his bank so he could conduct 
some business. At his office he ordered coffee. I was able to get a picture of the delivery guy and his nifty delivery tray. As you can see, it's closed when in transit to keep the contents' temperature. When I took the picture he asked me if I would e-mail it to him, which I did.
some business. At his office he ordered coffee. I was able to get a picture of the delivery guy and his nifty delivery tray. As you can see, it's closed when in transit to keep the contents' temperature. When I took the picture he asked me if I would e-mail it to him, which I did.
I left his office at 12:30 when he had a meeting scheduled. He certainly appears to have a full plate. I will try my best not to impose on his time.
Today must've been the day for work. E-mails arrived today asking for me to update my Community of Scholars profile, order my textbooks for next fall, review revisions for two chapters in the media law text, approve a final draft for a paper on cable TV that the Digital Policy Institute produced for a client, provide a report on my professional activities of the last year, and write a letter of recommendation for an award nomination. In addition Stelios asked me to proof a book proposal he's written - which I was happy to do. I'm not complaining about a little work - it's just amazing that all of these tasks showed up in one day. (I'd probably be able to get more done if I didn't blog so often).
Kim was doing a little better today from her concussion. We ventured out of the apartment for a short walk this afternoon. Just about the time we were coming in the front door of the building she said she was starting to feel poorly. I'm concerned because tomorrow we have to go to the Fulbright office, then to get our official residence permit, and I know that is going to involve some walking.
Today's news item: Greek Orthodox lent begins Monday. There was a news story about the drop in the price of bread, including the special Lenten bread.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment