When: September – December 2021 | 17:30 – 20:00 (Greece)
Where: Deree Faculty Lounge

Organized by:
ACG Institute of Global Affairs (IGA)

 

About the IGA Distinguished Fellows Series Masterclass

This exclusive Masterclass, comprising 5 lectures, is addressed to Deree students of all majors who have an interest in the topic. Priority will be given to students majoring in International Relations & European Affairs at Deree and have completed 60 credits and above, as well as Deree parallel study students of International Relations or Law, in their 3rd or 4th year of study at the public university.

The Fall Semester Masterclass will take place from September – December 2021 (Wednesday, September 29 | Wednesday, October 13 | Monday, November 15 | Monday, November 29 | Friday, December 3).

Scope:

This masterclass aims at leading students to understand how diplomacy has evolved and how it is practiced today. It examines some of the most fundamental questions in modern diplomacy & international affairs, the role of diplomats in forging relationships when addressing intercountry or regional conflicts and explains how key states and international organizations operate. Through thought-provoking conversation, it aims at enabling students to further develop critical thinking, while understanding what a diplomatic career entails, especially if they are considering to follow it as a career path.

The Masterclass will be offered free of charge and attendance to all five lectures is strongly recommended – A certificate of attendance will be issued for participants who attend all lectures.

• Applicants must express their interest at: [email protected], by submitting a short paragraph (100-150 words) about why they want to attend and their CV.
• Deadline for applications: Thursday September 23, 2021, 5pm.
• Required for participation: Certificate of Covid-19 Vaccination (valid 14 days after completion of vaccination) or Covid-19 Disease Certificate (no more than 6 months after the diagnosis)

 

Lecture 1 of 5 – Wednesday, September 29

Speaker:

Dimitris Paraskevopoulos
Ambassador a.h.

Ambassador Dimitrios Paraskevopoulos was born in Athens, Greece. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Athens.

In 1979 he entered the Greek Diplomatic Service and served initially as Embassy Attaché at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During his career he served in the following missions:

• Secretary of Embassy – Counsellor of Embassy (Norway, Turkey, Netherlands), Service for Political Affairs – Thrace, Diplomatic Cabinet of the Foreign Minister (1981-1989)
• Plenipotentiary Minister, Director of the Diplomatic Cabinet of the Foreign Minister (2000)
• Ambassador in Moscow (2002-2005)
• Ambassador in Paris (2005-2009)
• Director of the Diplomatic Cabinet of the Prime Minister (2009-2012)
• Head of the Task Force for the organization of the Greek Presidency of the Council of the EU (2012-2013)
• Director General for Political Affairs (2013-2015)
• Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2015-2019)

Ambassador Paraskevopoulos was awarded the Grand Cross of the Greek Order of the Phoenix and has received decorations from Italy, France and the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He speaks English and French.

Moderator:

Dr. Constantinos Filis
ACG IGA Director and Associate Professor at Deree – The American College of Greece
BA in Political Science and History, University of La Verne; MA in Global Governance, University of Reading; PhD in Russian Foreign Policy, University of Reading

Upon completing his PhD, Dr. Filis was elected Senior Associate Member at St Antony’s College, Oxford University (2007-2009), and completed a research fellowship at Southeast European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX), Oxford University (2008-2010). He heads the Russia, Eurasia and Southeast Europe Centre at Panteion University’s Institute of International Relations, of which he was formerly Executive Director (2019-2021) and Director of Research Programs (2012-2019). He is also board member of the Advisory Board at the same institute. He lectures at the Hellenic Naval Staff and Command College (since 2012), at the Hellenic National Defense College (since 2016), at the Hellenic War College (since 2020) and at the National Security School (since 2019). He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Piraeus Asset Management; the Greek-Turkish Forum; the Institute of Energy for South-East Europe; and the Delphi Economic Forum. He is also President of the Foundation of Thracian Art and Tradition and Director of the International Olympic Truce Centre and a member of the Hellenic Olympic Committee; energy and geoeconomics advisor to the Hellenic Entrepreneurs Association and Advisory Board member of DiaNEOsis Research and Policy Institute.

Dr. Filis is the Director of the ACG Institute of Global Affairs and an Associate Professor at the American College of Greece, where he teaches courses in International Relations and European Affairs. His most recent books/monographs are: “Assertive Patriotism,” “Greece in its neighborhood,” “A Closer Look at Russia and its Influence in the World,” “Turkey, Islam, Erdogan,” and “Refugees, Europe, Insecurity.”

Discussant: Nefeli Syrmali
International Relations and European Affairs major, Deree – The American College of Greece

 

Lecture 2 of 5 – Wednesday, October 13

Speaker:

Alexander Philon
Ambassador a.h

Ambassador Philon was born in Athens in 1939.

He has graduated from the Institute of Political Sciences ( Science Po) as well as the Faculty of Law at the University of Paris.

He entered the Greek Diplomatic Service in 1965.During his career he served at the following missions:

• As secretary of Embassy at the United Nations Organisation in New York and at the Embassy in London.
• As Councillor, Consul General in Istanbul (1980-83) and then as head of the Task Force for the organization of the First Greek Presidency of the EEC.
• As Minister Plenipotentiary as Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington DC (1984-89)
• As Ambassador to New Delhi,India 1989-1993
• As Ambassador to Ankara,Turkey   1993-95
• Deputy and then Director General for Political Affairs 1995-96
• Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs    1997-98
• Ambassador to Washington DC  USA, 1998-2002.

After retiring from the Diplomatic Service he was appointed as Head of Analysis and Planning as well as Ambassador for Special Mission 2002-2011.

Ambassador Philon was awarded the Grand Cross of the Greek Order of the Phoenix and has received equivalent decorations from Finland, France, Germany and Romania.

Moderator:

Prof. Constantine Papadopoulos
member of the IGA Academic Advisory Board
BA in Economics; University of Sussex; MA in Economics of Industry; University of Sussex; PhD in Economics, University of Sussex

Dr. Papadopoulos began his professional life as a career diplomat. For many years he specialized in EU affairs, and was directly involved, inter alia, in the negotiations that led to the EU’s 4th enlargement (1995) and the signing of the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997). He then spent a year at Harvard University as a Fellow of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (1997-8), conducting research and lecturing. He subsequently moved to the banking industry and Eurobank EFG where he worked for thirteen years as Advisor on European and Economic Affairs. In 2010-2012 he was Secretary-General for International Economic Relations & Development Cooperation at the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of Greece’s economic relations with the rest of the world, as well as trade and investment promotion.

Dr. Papadopoulos has been a member of the Department of International Business & Economics since 2015 where he teaches the courses Business in the EU, International Business and Business Negotiation. Since 2019, he has also been teaching courses in the area of International Relations & European Affairs in the Department of History, Philosophy and the Ancient World, namely, Modern European History & Politics, and Diplomacy.

Discussant: Angelos Latses
International Relations and European Affairs major, Deree – The American College of Greece

 

Lecture 3 of 5 – Monday, November 15

Speaker:

Ambassador Dimitri Azemopoulos
Director for the Training and Development of Human Resources at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Dimitrios Azemopoulos was born in Athens, Greece in 1963. He studied Law and Political Science as well as International and European Studies at the University of Athens and went on to pursue further studies at the London School of Economics (LLM) in 1985 and at the Sorbonne in Paris (DEA) in 1986. In 1987, he joined the Athens Bar Association. After two further years of studies at the National School of Public Administration finishing first in his class, he began a diplomatic career in 1992.

He served successively in the diplomatic cabinets of the Minister of Foreign Affairs (1992-1993) and for the President of the Republic, Konstantinos Karamanlis (1993-1995). In September 1995, he was posted to the Embassy of Greece in Warsaw, where he served until December 1998, as Deputy Head of Mission. He was subsequently seconded to the Council of the EU, where he worked in the General Secretariat. In November 2002, he was appointed Member of the Cabinet of the EU Commissioner for Employment and Equal Opportunities. He also served as a Member in the Cabinet of the EU Commissioner for the Environment until the end of December 2004. Upon his return Greece in 2005, he served in the Diplomatic Office of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. In January 2006, Ambassador Azemopoulos was appointed as Head of the Cabinet of the Director General for International Organizations and Security.

Subsequently, he served as Director in the Cabinet of the Secretary General of European Affairs until September 2007, when he was posted as Deputy Head of Mission to the Embassy of Greece in Norway, with parallel accreditation for Iceland. In February 2009, he was the Consul General of Greece in Toronto, Canada, where he served for five and a half years until July 2014. During his tenure at the Consulate General of Toronto, he was unanimously elected Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and President of the Toronto Consular Association. Ambassador Azemopoulos has been honored by a great number of Greek Canadian organizations and by the Greek Orthodox Church in Canada. His awards include the very prestigious AHEPA award for the promotion of the ideals and values of Hellenism in Canada. He has been honored both by the National Press and Media Council of Canada as well as by the Ontario Provincial Government for his role in promoting social justice, human rights, and democracy.

In 2017, the President of the Hellenic Republic awarded Dimitris Azemopoulos with the “Grand Commander of the Order of the Phoenix,” an honor bestowed on Greeks who have distinguished themselves in their field.

This same year, he was posted as Ambassador of Greece to Canada where he served for three years until October 2020. His extensive experience in diplomacy has led him to his current position as Director for the Training and Development of Human Resources at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ambassador Azemopoulos has been awarded an honorary degree in Law by Deree-The American College of Greece.

Moderator:

Prof. Constantine Papadopoulos
member of the IGA Academic Advisory Board
BA in Economics; University of Sussex; MA in Economics of Industry; University of Sussex; PhD in Economics, University of Sussex

Dr. Papadopoulos began his professional life as a career diplomat. For many years he specialized in EU affairs, and was directly involved, inter alia, in the negotiations that led to the EU’s 4th enlargement (1995) and the signing of the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997). He then spent a year at Harvard University as a Fellow of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (1997-8), conducting research and lecturing. He subsequently moved to the banking industry and Eurobank EFG where he worked for thirteen years as Advisor on European and Economic Affairs. In 2010-2012 he was Secretary-General for International Economic Relations & Development Cooperation at the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of Greece’s economic relations with the rest of the world, as well as trade and investment promotion.

Dr. Papadopoulos has been a member of the Department of International Business & Economics since 2015 where he teaches the courses Business in the EU, International Business and Business Negotiation. Since 2019, he has also been teaching courses in the area of International Relations & European Affairs in the Department of History, Philosophy and the Ancient World, namely, Modern European History & Politics, and Diplomacy.

Discussant: Spyridon Tsaparas
International Relations and European Affairs major, Deree – The American College of Greece

Lecture 4 of 5 – Monday, November 29

Speaker:

Dimitri Avramopoulos
former Commissioner

Dimitris Avramopoulos is a Greek politician and diplomat whose career in public service spans four decades.

He was the European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship from 2014 until 2019.

Previously, Mr. Avramopoulos served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defence (two terms), Minister of Tourism and Minister of Health and Social Solidarity of the Hellenic Republic, also having been elected MP several times. Before, Dimitris Avramopoulos served twice as Mayor of Athens (1995 to 2002).

Mr. Avramopoulos is Honorary Doctor of Adelphi University, Drexel University, Kingston University and Deree – The American College of Greece. He is also Honorary Professor of Peking University & the European College of Parma.

Mr. Avramopoulos has been bestowed awards and state decorations from more than 20  countries and has been presented with highest distinctions from more than 40 foreign and 40 Greek cities.

Dimitris Avramopoulos holds a BA degree in Political Science from the University of Athens and a MA degree in European Studies from the Université libre de Bruxelles. In 2003, he was Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.

He is married to Vivian and is father of two sons, Filippos & Iason.

Moderator:

Prof. Nikolaos Lampas
member of the IGA Academic Advisory Board
BA in International and European Studies, University of Piraeus, MS in Strategic Studies, University of Aberdeen, PhD in International Relations and Strategic Studies, University of Reading

Dr. Nikolaos Lampas is an Assistant Professor in International Relations and European Studies at Deree – The American College of Greece. He is teaching courses in International Relations, Modern European History and Politics, and Global Markets and Politics.

His research interests include American Foreign Policy, the Middle East, the nexus between terrorism and migration, and causes of threat perception towards refugees. He has published one book, US and Rogue States: Iraq, Iran and North Korea (in Greek) and several articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Mediterranean Quarterly. His most recent publication in the series “Jean Monnet Papers on Political Economy” deals with the impact of Turkish Refugee Flows on the EU-Turkey Agreement of March 2016.

Discussant: Katelyn Fuller
International Relations and Criminal Justice major, University of Delaware

 

Lecture 5 of 5 – Friday, December 3

Speaker:

Ambassador Eleni Sourani,
Head of the Prime Minister’s Diplomatic Office

Eleni Sourani was born in Thessaloniki in 1960. She is graduate of the School of Law of the University of Athens. She joined the diplomatic service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1984. Since then, she held various positions in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Athens and abroad:

At the Middle East Directorate (1985), at the Office of the Secretary-General (1986-1988), DCM and Consul in Embassy of Greece in Harare, Zimbabwe (1988-1992), Consul of Greece in Vancouver, Canada (1992-1996), at the Directorate of Security & NATO (1996-1998), DCM in the Embassy of Greece in Yerevan, Armenia (1998-2002), Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem (2002-2005), Deputy Head of Russia & CIS Department (2005), Director of the Diplomatic Cabinet of the Deputy Foreign Minister (2006), Minister Plenipotentiary and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Greek Permanent Mission to the OSCE, Vienna (2007-2011), Director of Arab Countries & Middle East Directorate (2011-2013), Ambassador of Greece to the Kingdom of Denmark (2013-2016), Ambassador of Greece to Albania (2016-2019), Director of the Directorate for Relations with Turkey (2019).

Since January 2020 she is the Director of the Diplomatic Cabinet of the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic.

She has been awarded with the decorations of Grand Officer, Order of Phoenix (Greece), Grand Officer, Order of the Ciders (Lebanon), Grand Cross of the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Grand Cross of the Order of Dannebrog (Denmark) and Knight of Scanderbeg Order (Albania).

She speaks English and French. She is married and has one son.

Moderator:

Dr. Constantinos Filis
ACG IGA Director and Associate Professor at Deree – The American College of Greece

BA in Political Science and History, University of La Verne; MA in Global Governance, University of Reading; PhD in Russian Foreign Policy, University of Reading

Upon completing his PhD, Dr. Filis was elected Senior Associate Member at St Antony’s College, Oxford University (2007-2009), and completed a research fellowship at Southeast European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX), Oxford University (2008-2010). He heads the Russia, Eurasia and Southeast Europe Centre at Panteion University’s Institute of International Relations, of which he was formerly Executive Director (2019-2021) and Director of Research Programs (2012-2019). He is also board member of the Advisory Board at the same institute. He lectures at the Hellenic Naval Staff and Command College (since 2012), at the Hellenic National Defense College (since 2016), at the Hellenic War College (since 2020) and at the National Security School (since 2019). He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Piraeus Asset Management; the Greek-Turkish Forum; the Institute of Energy for South-East Europe; and the Delphi Economic Forum. He is also President of the Foundation of Thracian Art and Tradition and Director of the International Olympic Truce Centre and a member of the Hellenic Olympic Committee; energy and geoeconomics advisor to the Hellenic Entrepreneurs Association and Advisory Board member of DiaNEOsis Research and Policy Institute.

Dr. Filis is the Director of the ACG Institute of Global Affairs and an Associate Professor at the American College of Greece, where he teaches courses in International Relations and European Affairs. His most recent books/monographs are: “Assertive Patriotism,” “Greece in its neighborhood,” “A Closer Look at Russia and its Influence in the World,” “Turkey, Islam, Erdogan,” and “Refugees, Europe, Insecurity.”

Discussant: Yasmine Neri
International Relations and European Affairs major, Deree – The American College of Greece

 

 

For more information, please contact Office of Public Affairs, [email protected] or +30 210 6009800, ext. 1509