“Diaspora Media: challenges and prospects for the Greek language and culture”

With great pleasure, I welcome this year’s organization of the 11th International Summer University, an institution that has become a valuable bridge between the Greek diaspora and our homeland. This event serves as a steadfast beacon for the preservation and enhancement of Greek identity, providing a space for expression, education, and dialogue about the Greek language, culture, and traditions.

This year, the institution returns to Boston, a landmark city for the Greek diaspora, distinguished by its historical and cultural contributions to Hellenism. Through the collaboration of distinguished academics, journalists, artists, and educators from Greece and abroad, we aspire to address the contemporary challenges, opportunities, and prospects facing the global Greek community.

The diaspora constitutes a significant chapter in our national history, and the connection between Greeks abroad and the motherland must remain unbreakable. The forging of close ties among members of the Greek diaspora community and with Greeks living in Greece is facilitated in part by diaspora media. These media outlets serve as a channel of communication, a platform for expression, and a means of connection for Hellenism.

The multifaceted role of diaspora media lies in their ability to create close bonds among members of the Greek community while also acting as an intermediary link between the diaspora and the motherland. They promote, showcase, and enhance the history, culture, and language of Greece.

Media—whether print, broadcast, or today increasingly digital—fulfill the human need for communication, a need inherent to our existence. Diaspora media highlight the public and private lives of Greek immigrants. Most importantly, they have contributed—and continue to contribute—to the preservation and survival of the Greek language and the maintenance of Greek culture. The Greek language remains alive and functional not only within the geographic bounds of Greece but also across the global Greek community.

Diaspora media are the connecting link between the present and the past, between the new homeland and the ancestral homeland, between Greek culture and tradition and modern reality.

Through their constant effort to preserve the native language and the Greek cultural identity, diaspora media have emerged as custodians of national consciousness. Essential for the unity and cohesion of the diaspora is the constructive cooperation among media outlets, as well as with the metropolitan country and the countries where Greek communities reside.

This year’s event is not merely an academic occasion but also an opportunity to explore the multifaceted role of media as factors of unity, cultural heritage, and innovation.

The University of Ioannina, the Scientific Coordinator of the International Summer University, the Dean of the School of Education, Prof. Nikoletta Tsitsanoudis-Mallidis, and the members of the Organizing Committee make every effort to ensure that this event becomes a meeting point of ideas, experiences, and knowledge. Through the active participation of young people and the contribution of distinguished personalities from various fields, the International Summer University continues to grow and evolve, offering a unique experience to all participants.

My heartfelt thanks go to all contributors to this effort. Their support and collaboration allow us to keep this institution alive and creative, offering invaluable knowledge and experiences to its participants.

With deep appreciation for the contributions of all those involved, I hope this year’s event will be a source of inspiration, creativity, and connection for Greeks worldwide. Our language, culture, and traditions are our identity, and through initiatives like this, we manage to protect and advance them. Diaspora media support the promotion and dissemination of the Greek language and showcase the image of modern Greece, which, combined with memories and nostalgia, shapes today’s and tomorrow’s ambassadors of our country and culture.

Best wishes for success, and I look forward to seeing you in Boston!