Book Cover: Department of Greek Education

The Department of Greek Education announces the release of Byzantium: The Missing Link to Understanding the History of Western Civilization, an innovative set of resource guides for teaching Byzantine history.

The over one thousand years of Byzantine history remain little studied and often ignored in schools and universities outside of Greece. This is why a team of educators and scholars have taken worked together to produce a unique educational resource to make this fundamental part of civilization and Hellenism better known in the English-speaking world. They make a plethora of authentic Byzantine texts in English translation and rare images drawn from precious manuscripts available to educators and their students for the first time.

These twelve topical resource guides have been produced to support the teaching of the content of Byzantine history and culture in American schools from grade 7 and above. The project is the result of a collaboration between the Advisory Council on Hellenic Education of The Hellenic Link, Inc., a non-profit association consisting of academics whose mission is to support Greek Language and Culture, and the Institute for Byzantine Research (IBR) / Institute of Historical Research (IHR) of the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF) in Athens, Greece. The guides were published with the cooperation of Dr. Anastasios Koularmanis Director of the Department of Greek Education, and the financial support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

Structure of the Resource Guides: Each module/unit is designed to illustrate an important and basic aspect of Byzantine civilization in a way that relates to mandated content and thematic units within the social studies/history curriculum. Although the New York State Social Studies Standards and New York City Core Standards are referenced, an effort is also made to connect each module to the national concepts contained in all State Standards. All modules/units consist of multiple primary sources in English translation which provide descriptive content information related to the module/unit theme and topic in such a way as to provoke questions and promote multiple perspectives. The topical introduction provides the general context for the theme and subject, guidance for further reading, and an explanation of specialized vocabulary and technical terms. Each primary source is also introduced and placed in chronological and thematic context. After all of the primary sources are presented, sample leading questions and student activities are offered, designed to promote higher order and historical thinking, in-depth analysis, and rigorous persuasive writing skills. It is hoped that their use by teachers and students will enrich and supplement their initial scope and instructional design.

This very successful collaboration between Greek-American institutions and Greece’s premier research center for historical scholarship has brought together the international team of scholars to support classroom instruction focusing on important aspects of Byzantine history and culture:

Editor-in-chief: Dr. Constantine G. Hatzidimitriou, The Hellenic Link, Inc.

Editors: Dr. Taxiarchis G. Kolias, Professor Emeritus, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Dr. Gerasimos Merianos, Senior Researcher, National Hellenic Research Foundation with the collaboration of Dr. Kalliope Mavrommati.

Available Byzantine Resource Guides by Topic:

Module 1: “Byzantine Imperial Authority – Administration and Law” by Nike Koutrakou

Module 2: “Byzantium at War” by Christos G. Makrypoulias

Module 3: “Byzantine Diplomacy and Foreign Relations” by Constantine G. Hatzidimitriou

Module 4: “Byzantium and the Islamic World: From the Origins to the Crusades” by Telemachos Lounghis

Module 5: “The Byzantine Role in the Formation of Eastern Europe” by Georgios Kardaras

Module 6: “Constantinople, the Biggest City in the World” by Kalliope Mavrommati

Module 7: “Byzantine Art and Archaeology” by Nicholas Melvani

Module 8: “Icons and Coins: Aspects of Gold in Byzantium” by Gerasimos Merianos

Module 9: “Byzantine Schools and Education” by Sophia Mergiali-Sahas

Module 10: “Science in Byzantium” by Sandy Sakorrafou & Gerasimos Merianos

Module 11: “Women in Byzantium” by Stavroula Solomou

Module 12: “The Influence of Byzantium: The European Renaissance, Columbus, and the New World” by Marina Koumanoudi

This innovative educational, collaborative resource will be shortly available electronically and in print form to teachers and professors free of charge. It will be disseminated to the Archdiocese’s Greek-American schools throughout the United States, and to other interested organizations.