Modern Greek Studies Association

The Modern Greek Studies Association (MGSA) was founded in 1968 by a group of USA-based intellectuals and scholars to showcase the merits of the modern Greek tradition and contemporary Greek culture. It has evolved since then into a North America-based, non-profit academic organization dedicated to the promotion of Modern Greek Studies in the United States and Canada and to fostering international conversation on all issues, historical and contemporary, that pertain to Greek matters. The MGSA is committed to support future generations of Modern Greek Studies scholars.

Interdisciplinary in orientation, the MGSA seeks to stimulate the discovery, diffusion, and development of knowledge about the language, literature, arts, history, politics, economy, and society of modern Greece, Cyprus, and the Greek diaspora. Its membership consists primarily of teachers, students, and professional scholars, many of whom reside outside of North America. Membership also includes and is open to individuals outside of academia who are actively concerned with Greek history and culture. 

The MGSA defines its scope broadly to include not only post-independence Greece but also the period of Ottoman rule and the later Byzantine Empire, as well as those aspects of early Byzantine, Hellenistic, and Classical times that have a bearing on the modern period with the objective to show how multivalent Greek history and culture are. It is this same investment in the broad range and multifaceted character of Greek history and culture that underlies the MGSA’s commitment to an interdisciplinary approach to all things Greek, including questions emerging from Greek diaspora conditions and the Greek-American experience.

The MGSA recognizes that diversity is critical to the vitality of the field and is committed to diversity within the profession, in both membership and scholarship. The MGSA therefore supports initiatives aimed at increasing diversity and fostering inclusiveness at every level and opposes the use of Greek texts and Greek images by individuals and organizations that work against the cause of greater diversity, equality, and inclusion.

The MGSA’s activities since its foundation have been and continue to be extensive. Since its first Symposium at Princeton University in 1969, the Association convenes a biennial Symposium, which has steadily grown in size, reputation, scholarly range, and international participation. Symposia feature an awards ceremony at which a variety of MGSA Prizes are conferred: the Keeley Book Prize, the Constantinides Translation Prize, the Karagiannaki Edited Volume Prize, the Iatrides Dissertation Prize, and the Papacosma Graduate Essay Prize.

In addition to its biennial Symposium, the MGSA also sponsors the biennial MGSA Workshop on Pedagogy and funds the MGSA Innovation Grant that supports the enhancement of new and innovative MGSA projects world-wide. As of 2025, the MGSA offers the Harry J. Psomiades Research Grant in Greek American Studies. It also provides members with a variety of resources, including the Greek American Studies Resource Portal, the Greek American Resource Archive, the Bibliography of Women in Greek Society.

The MGSA’s publication activities include the premier periodical in the field, the Journal of Modern Greek Studies, published biannually by The Johns Hopkins University Press; a Bulletin distributed to its membership; and a number of significant volumes on Greek history and literature over the years. Through its MGSA.org website and the listserv MGSA-L, the MGSA also serves as an information and communications hub for all people interested in the study of modern Greece and Cyprus.