Greek Heritage: Classical Humanism & Byzantine Spirituality 

Credit gained: 0.5 High School Credit

Prerequisites

Fluency in English 

Suggested Grade Level: Grades 9-12

Course description

This online course aims to familiarize students who display interest in Classics and Humanities,Greek history, Ancient Greek literature that cover a timeline from the Golden Age of Pericles to the rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire. The course will guide students to understand the context and the conditions within which classical humanism was born. In addition, they will be able to see how classical humanism infused its principles and values into the Byzantine times and were evident in a variety of domains, such as art and architecture, politics and philosophy, literature and drama. Through excerpts of ancient Greek and Byzantine literature translated in English, research, project-based learning, forum discussions and field studies, this 8-week course provides a brief overview of the foundations of the western civilization.

Course Start/End Date:

  • Fall 2023: Starting week of October 2nd, 2023 to week of November 20th, 2023

  • Winter 2024: Starting week of Feb 12th , 2024 to week of April 1st, 2024

  • Spring 2024: Starting week of April 8th 2024 to week of June 3rd, 2024

Course Duration: 8 weeks

Minimum Enrollment: 5 Students

Fellow/Online Instructor: Gaki, Venie

Cost: 300 Euros

Fellow/Online Instructor(s)

Gaki, Venie, Fellow

Venie Gaki was born in Ioannina, Greece and holds a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the Hellenic American University (HAU) and a BA (Bachelor in Classics) from the University of Ioannina, Greece. During her university years she attended a one-year course in Classics at the University of Liverpool, UK. She also holds a Certificate in Advanced Methodology in Teaching English as a Second Language acquired at the Hellenic American Union in Athens, Greece in 1998 and has been a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certified instructor since then.

Venie Gaki has rich experience in teaching both Greek and English as a second language in private schools and has been a member of ACS Athens faculty since 2007. She has taught both English and Greek to Elementary School, Middle School and High School students of all levels (beginning to Language Arts). In addition, Venie Gaki has also taught Latin through the IIC.

Venie Gaki believes in constant professional development; therefore, she pursues such opportunities through seminars, conferences (ECIS, AERO) and book exhibitions in order to be updated with the latest publications, methodologies and approaches in teaching the English and the Greek language to speakers of diverse linguistic backgrounds. She has been a member and presenter at TESOL Greece since 1993.

Writing is one of her favorite occupations as it makes her feel more creative. She has written several plays, poems, song lyrics and texts (in both Greek and English) through which children's understanding and consolidation of the language they learn is reinforced.

Venie Gaki designs and adjusts the content of the classes she teaches to meet her students' needs.

For the EFL Social Studies class, she has simplified the curriculum students are presented with in grades 6 & 7 Middle School to make it more accessible for students with low proficiency in English.

ACS Athens has published three of her books, which have been taught at the Elementary School for a few years now: a listening and speaking activities book and two textbooks for Elementary School children who learn Greek as a foreign language.

email: gakiv@acs.gr