On November 14, 10:00 – 18:00, the ACG Institute of Global Affairs (IGA) hosted the 22nd American Studies Seminar, an event traditionally co-organized together with the U.S. EMBASSY ATHENS and the Institute of International Relations (IIR) of Panteion University.
This year’s American Studies Seminar, which delved into how fake news affect our lives, how technology affects the spreading of disinformation and whether the political system can protect citizens, proved to be particularly successful.
The keynote speaker Ms. Stephanie Edgerly, Associate Professor and Media Expert at Northwestern University, along with professors from Deree – ACG, the Institute of International Relations of Panteion University, and media experts, addressed a fully engaged audience of over 200 people, comprising mostly students from various Greek public universities and Deree – ACG.
Welcome remarks were offered by Ms. Claudia Carydis, VP Public Affairs-ACG, Ms. Anastasia Gkika, General Secretary of Primary, Secondary Education and Special Education, Ministry of Education & Religious Affairs, Ms. Cynthia Harvey, Public Affairs Counselor- US Embassy in Athens, as well as IGA, Director Haris Vlavianos, and IIR of Panteion University Director Haralambos Papasotiriou who also moderated the discussion during the three panels.
The first panel, which explored the historical roots of disinformation, comprised of Maria Alvanou, Criminologist-PVE/CVE Expert, Tutor-Criminology Department, University of Essex Online, Christof Gassenschmidt, Professor of History, Deree – ACG, Haralambos Papasotiriou, Professor of Strategic Studies, Department of International, European, and Area Studies, Panteion University; Director, IIR, and Haris Vlavianos, Professor of History, Deree – ACG; Director, ACG IGA., who took the audience back in time, exploring and explaining the long history of disinformation and misinformation.
A discussion on how technology affects the spreading of disinformation followed in the second panel, where Gregory Katsas, Professor of Sociology, Deree – ACG, Konstantinos Lambropoulos, Senior Expert on International Strategy and Security; and Associated Fellow of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Andrew Liaropoulos, Assistant Professor of International Relations & Strategic Studies, Department of International and European Studies, University of Piraeus, Nikos Papanastasopoulos, PhD, Political Science and International Politics, IIR, and Betty Tsakarestou, Associate Professor & Head of Advertising and Public Relations Lab, Department of Communication, Media and Culture, Panteion University. The speakers offered their respective insights about the topic, revealing an interesting contrast among those who are in favor of technology and how it can actually help and those who believe it contributes even more to the dissemination of fake news and disinformation.
The final panel of the American Studies Seminar 2019, focused on disinformation and the self and specifically how the political system and the citizens can protect themselves from it. Stephanie Edgerly, the keynote speaker of the seminar, explained the steps one may take in order to identify disinformation and fake news and various tips from her research experience. Georgia Lagoumitzi, Professor of Sociology, Deree – ACG, Daniel Mc Cormac, Professor of Communication, Head of the Department of Communication, Deree – ACG, and Dimitris Xenakis, Media Expert, Founder and Publisher of insidestory.gr, offered their expertise and insights into the matter.
Student participants received a certificate of attendance after the completion of the seminar.