The Battle for Bodies, Hearts, and Minds in Postwar Greece
presented by Professor Gonda Van Steen
- When: – 9:00 pm ( Add to your Calendar... )
- • Open the downloaded file (in some cases it may happen automatically), this will:
- 1. Load your default Calendar app (Outlook, Apple Calendar etc) and
- 2. Open the dialog for a new meeting, and
- 3. Pre-fill it with the information of this event.
- 1. Open a new browser tab to your selected service, then
- 2. Open the dialog for a new meeting, and
- 3. Pre-fill it with the information of this event.
- Where: Online (YouTube, Facebook)
- Entry: Free
'Add to your Calendar' assists you in adding events to your personal calendar.
Which option to pick depends on the calendaring service you use.
The iCal / Apple / Outlook option:
(Start with this if unsure) This option will download a calendar event file (.ics) to your device.
It is up to you to then alter any details, add an earlier reminder, or save it as is to your calendar.
For the online options (365, Google, Hotmail and Yahoo):
These 'deep links' will:
It is up to you to then alter any details, add an earlier reminder, or save it as is to your calendar.
Event Details
On 17 May 1946, the American social worker Charles Schermerhorn arrived in Greece. He arrived at a critical time: Greece had just come out of a brutal Nazi German Occupation and was about to engage in a three-year-long and devastating civil war (1946-1949). Charles was appointed by UNNRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration), subsequently by the Near East Foundation, and eventually by UNICEF. That means that, in the course of a mere five years, Charles saw a tremendous amount of American-influenced administrative and logistical planning for Greece, which was a focus of intense early Cold War friction and scrutiny. Charles’ own appointment as an UNRRA child welfare specialist attests to a Western-imported and hegemonic humanitarian model, which had to serve as an antidote to the rise of Soviet-style communism in Southern Europe and the Balkans. The global focus of the time was on children: they held the future of their respective societies and, as adults, would determine whether a nation would align itself with the West or with the East.
About Professor Gonda Van Steen
Gonda Van Steen holds the Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature in the Department of Classics at King’s College London. She also directs King’s Centre for Hellenic Studies. She received her PhD degree in Classics and Hellenic Studies from Princeton University. Van Steen is the author of five books: Venom in Verse: Aristophanes in Modern Greece; Liberating Hellenism from the Ottoman Empire; Theatre of the Condemned: Classical Tragedy on Greek Prison Islands; and Stage of Emergency: Theater and Public Performance under the Greek Military Dictatorship of 1967-1974. Her latest, single-authored book, Adoption, Memory, and Cold War Greece (2019), takes the reader into the uncharted terrain of Greek adoption stories that become paradigmatic of Cold War politics and history (Greek translation Ζητούνται παιδιά από την Ελλάδα, Athens: Potamos, 2021). Van Steen most recently published an edited volume titled The Battle for Bodies, Hearts and Minds in Postwar Greece: Social Worker Charles Schermerhorn in Thessaloniki, 1946-1951 (Routledge, 2024).
How to Participate
This is an online-only event, so please join us on YouTube, or Facebook
You don't need an account with either of these services to just watch the event, but you do need one if you want to participate in the Live Q&A.
At the end of the lecturer's presentation, we ask our viewers to submit their written questions through the comment or chat function of Facebook or YouTube (you'll need to have an account with that service to be allowed to comment).
We then select and submit a number of your questions to our guest.
We look forward to your insightful participation.
Sponsors
We thank Penny Zagarelou Mackieson for the kind donation that made this seminar possible.
During the course of the year considerable expenses are incurred in staging the seminars. In order to mitigate these costs individuals or organisations are invited to donate against a lecture of their choice.
You too can donate for one or more seminars and (optionally) let your name or brand be known as a patron of culture to our members, visitors and followers, as well as the broader artistic and cultural community of Melbourne. Please email: info@greekcommunity.com.au or call 03 9662 2722.
We thank the following corporate sponsors:
Delphi Accounting, Symposiarch Wines and the Kastellorizian Association of Victoria
About Greek History and Culture Seminars 2025
This event is part of the series Greek History and Culture Seminars 2025.
The Greek Community of Melbourne hosts a wide range of events, from intimate gatherings to large functions, and celebrates cultural diversity with vibrant festivals, performances, and exhibitions.
Greek History and Culture Seminars 2025 will run between: Thursday, 06 March 2025 and Thursday, 25 September 2025
See all Greek History and Culture Seminars 2025 published events.
- LANGUAGE English
- CATEGORY Education
- EVENT SERIES Seminars > Greek History and Culture Seminars 2025
- SERIES DATES Thursday, 06/03/2025 – Thursday, 25/09/2025
- PRESENTED BY The Greek Community of Melbourne
- FEATURING Professor Gonda Van Steen
- M.C. Nick Dallas
- MAJOR DONORS Delphi Accounting, Symposiarch Wines and the Kastellorizian Association of Victoria
- MINOR DONORS Penny Zagarelou Mackieson
- PLACE Online (YouTube, Facebook)
Get the latest Greek Communitynews in your inbox
