We will remember her most for her three decades of wonderful investment in the Department and the Faculty, and for her huge collegiality and generosity, particularly to the generations of junior scholars in whom she invested so much time and faith.
The Department of Classics is sad to learn of the death on the 7th April of our former colleague, Professor Dame Averil Cameron, one of the most prominent historians of her generation.
www.kcl.ac.uk/news/averil-...
Gonda Van Stein and Athanasios Balermpas sit to the left and right of a stage and face the camera. Balermpas wears a grey suit and black shirt. He also wears dark glasses and holds a microphone and a paper. Van Steen wears a dark red and grey patterned jacket with gold buttons and a black scarf, and black skirt and tights. Both panelists are smiling. Behind is a projected image with 'Nostos for Greek Adoptees' in blue text and photographs of children to the side.
A stage with four panelists seated on it discussing animatedly. There are tables with water glasses at the front of the stage and behind are black curtains. In the foreground the backs of audience heads are visible.
Two women stand up amid the seated audience and hug. One has her back to the camera, and is wearing a brown cardigan. She has short, wavy blonde hair. The second woman has brown hair. She looks at the camera, over the shoulder of the woman she hugs. Her face conveys mixed emotions and she clasps her hands tightly around the other woman's shoulders.
The event was held on Thursday 2nd April 2026 at the American College of Greece, and co-hosted with The Demos Center. Photographic credit: Evangelos Gkikopoulos
Novelist Victoria Hislop whose new book, The Wine-dark Sea, engages with the history of adoptions from Greece, moderated the event and also spoke personally about what Greek citizenship means to her.
The panel explored these recent developments and reflected on what these stories can teach us about belonging, recognition, and dual identity at a time when global divisions are rife.
The other panelists were Dr Athanasios Balermpas, Secretary General of Interior, Greek Ministry of Interior; Dr Eirini Karamouzi, Professor of Contemporary European History and Associate Dean, Research and Innovation, ACG; and Dr Mary Cardaras, a Greek-born adoptee and Director of The Demos Center.
This reform reflects the power of Van Steen’s research and advocacy, and represents a significant change for the Greek diaspora worldwide.
A new law, issued on 2 May 2025, has opened a manageable pathway to restore their Greek citizenship. Theodoros Livanios, Greek Minister of Interior who helped drive the important change, attended the event with adoptees, representatives of the Greek government, and journalists.
Between the 1950s and 1970s, hundreds of Greek children were sent abroad for adoption, often under pressure or without their families’ full consent. Many grew up far from their birth culture, unsure or even unaware of their origins.
Koraes Professor Gonda Van Steen was one of four panelists at an event held in Athens to celebrate legal progress for people adopted abroad to regain their Greek citizenship. The panel discussed the recent policy change that Professor Van Steen’s team has been advocating for Greek-born adoptees.
(More info about Prof. Beaton's book can be found on the publisher Penguin's web-page.) www.penguin.co.uk/books/455111...
Book cover. Black background with 'Europe - a New History' in white type with the author's name at the top. In the centre is a lithographic image in gold, white and blue side profile of a female figure wearing white classical-style dress and gold helmet decorated with acanthus flower, and holding a spear in one hand. In the other she holds a blue orb on top of which stands a winged gold female figure facing the viewer.
We celebrated Prof. Sir Roderick Beaton‘s new book: 'Europe' with a launch by the Centre for Hellenic Studies at Bush House, with Prof. Georgios Varouxakis of QMUL guiding the discussion.
'Europe' presents a history of an idea and a collective identity stretching from Ancient Greece to today.
Dr Rebecca Levitan crouches to inspect one of the Greek antiquities in the gardens of Sissinghurst Castle.
More chances to visit ‘Passion and Politics: Sissinghurst and Greece’ at Sissinghurst Castle Garden (National Trust)! This special exhibition co-sponsored by the Centre for Hellenic Studies has been extended until 28 June 2026.
Pictured: Dr Rebecca Levitan whose research supported the exhibition.
A stage with a blue curtained backdrop. In front six actors dressed in short white tunics stand in two rows. They reach and pose, their feet bare. Two of the actors have plain white headdresses that obscure their faces.
An actor stands in the foreground dressed in a short off-white belted tunic. She has a serious expression on her face. Behind and to the right three actors sit and look towards her. The backdrop are plain beigey curtains.
A final curtain call for the actors in this year's KCL Greek Play! Aristophanes 'Clouds' was given a surrealist twist by play director Giulia Balsamo, an MA student in Film Philosophy.
Congratulations to all involved - and a huge thank you to @aodtheatre.bsky.social for overseeing this production!
In their feedback, students said the trip had been a wonderful experience as well as educational, and expressed their thanks to Mr Nick Comninos, who generously sponsors the annual trip in memory of his mother, the beloved Matti Egon.
Highlights included the Acropolis, visited the Acropolis and Benaki Museums, the Ancient Greek Technology Museum, the National Historical Museum, the ancient Agora and its archives, the Theatre of Dionysus, and the Lyceum where Aristotle taught - as well as the cats that dwell in the city.
Archaeological site grassed over with stone remains. In the foreground is a modern stone plaque that reads House of Simon in English and Greek. A tabby cat sits to the right of the plaque and gazes at the viewer.
Six young women sit and stand outside around a table with water bottles on it that is clearly on an outside patio or balcony with shrubs and an apartment wall behind. The sun drenches the scene and they are smiling and laughing.
Interior, mostly chalky coloured. On the right stratigraphically preserved remains are behind glass. A white man in a dark jacket and trousers points at the remains, and a brown skinned woman in a long dark coat scrutinises them. A woman with coily black hair reaching her mid-back is in the foreground her back to the camera. She also is studying the display.
KCL Classics students undertaking the Classics module ‘Engaging Greece’ have had an amazing opportunity to study ancient Greek cultures in Athens, thanks to the sponsored 2026 Matti Egon field trip led by Professor Gonda van Steen.
www.kcl.ac.uk/news/student...
...dance educators who together can shed light on the personal, political, and aesthetic ideologies that have informed the development of “Greek” dance since the 1920s, from the deployment of mythic narratives to the incorporation of disabled epistemologies.
This lecture will unfold various connections between four female figures in the history of modern “Greek” dance, both in Greece and abroad in the US and Europe over the last century. It focuses on Koula Pratsika, Rallou Manou, Martha Graham, and Valasia Simeon as a network of choreographers and...
Text that says "Dr Amanda Kubic 'Orbits of Movement, Choreographies of Memory: Unfoldinga Female Network of Modern "Greek" Dance'" with a black and white photograph of a leaping dancer and a half-portrait photograph of Dr Kubic, a white woman with shoulder length brown hair wearing a dark coat. She faces the camera and smiles.
Tonight! Dr Amanda Kubic's lecture ‘Orbits of Movement, Choreographies of Memory: Unfolding a Female Network of Modern “Greek” Dance’. 18.15 on 5 March, Rm 104 in Senate House London, WC1E 7HU. Free, no need to book.
Joint event by Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies and Hellenic Institute and KCL
There are 2 nights left to see King's Greek Play 2026 this week 🎭
Book your last minute tickets now
estore.kcl.ac.uk/conferences-....
Poster art. The style is cartoon-like. Fringed red curtains pull back to reveal blue clouds swirling and retreating from 'The Clouds' in chunky yellow capital text. Below, a wrinkled, aged hand reaches up from the bottom of the poster, its grey shadow falling over the globe it stretches to grasp.
Opens tonight! Have you got your ticket for The Clouds, the one-and-only 2026 KCL Greek Play? Performance starts at 7.30pm, and runs for three nights (and a matinee) only!
estore.kcl.ac.uk/conferences-...
Happy LGBTQ+ History Month!🏳️🌈💖
To honour this month, Classics for All is spotlighting LGBTQ+ stories within the ancient world.
This week we are focusing on the poet Sappho (c. 630–570 BCE), one of the most celebrated lyric voices of archaic Greece.
#lgbthistorymonth #lgbt
Starts a week today! The Clouds, KCL's 2026 Greek Play runs from 3-5 March. Definitely book your tickets in good time! 🏺
www.kcl.ac.uk/events/greek...
Booking link: estore.kcl.ac.uk/conferences-...
We're getting ready for our 2026 Greek Play The Clouds (3-5 March)!
Here's director Giulia Balsamo talking on instagram about how directing an ancient Greek comedy fits with her film studies MA. www.instagram.com/p/DU3Ell1iBv...
Book your tickets at estore.kcl.ac.uk/conferences-...
We're getting ready for our 2026 Greek Play The Clouds (3-5 March)!
Here's director Giulia Balsamo talking on instagram about how directing an ancient Greek comedy fits with her film studies MA. www.instagram.com/p/DU3Ell1iBv...
Book your tickets at estore.kcl.ac.uk/conferences-...
Are you a UK state school teacher interested in introducing Classics to your school? 🎓
We offer bespoke training for all teachers to introduce a variety of classical subjects.
Contact us here: classicsforall.org.uk/my-school-wa...
#teacher #training #latin #classics #classicsforall
'New book explores how music, from opera to hip-hop, has been inspired by ancient Greece and Rome'
Dr Emily Pillinger publishes Music as Classical Reception: Amplifying Antiquity with Dr Miranda Stanyon. Get it from your library (or ask them to order it?)!
www.kcl.ac.uk/news/new-boo...
