The Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University announces our Eighteenth Annual International Graduate Student Conference in Modern Greek Studies. We invite advanced doctoral candidates to submit proposals for papers on any aspect of the early modern and/or modern Greek world, from the fifteenth century to the present. This conference aims to provide a platform for a small number of outstanding doctoral students to exchange ideas with the Princeton Hellenic Studies academic community.

Papers for this conference may engage with topics from any discipline in the humanities or the social sciences, including but not limited to linguistics, literature, history, philosophy, visual and material culture, the creative arts, architecture, media and film, anthropology, religion, and sociology. We are especially interested in transnational and/or comparative perspectives that highlight Greece’s interactions and connections to wider cultural or geographical contexts, such as the Balkans, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and diaspora communities worldwide. Comparative and/or interdisciplinary approaches are particularly encouraged. Papers at previous conferences have addressed questions of identity, migration, gender and sexuality, contemporary politics and society, international relations, media representations, religion, diaspora, reception and translation studies, cultural memory, environment, architecture, and heritage.

We invite submissions from doctoral candidates who are at the final stages of their dissertation work and are enrolled as graduate students at the time of the conference. Each selected participant will be assigned a mentor, a Hellenic Studies postdoctoral fellow, with whom to confer about their papers and preparation of their presentations, their dissertations and other research, as well as future professional opportunities.

The conference will bring together six outstanding doctoral students for a week-long visit to Princeton, culminating in an intensive day of presentations and intellectual exchange.

The conference will be organized as follows: Speakers will write a paper of around 5,000 words, to be circulated among the other presenters, chairs and respondents, in advance of the conference. On the day of the conference, speakers will summarize the main points of their paper in a prepared 20-minute oral presentation in English. For each paper, a Princeton Hellenic Studies postdoctoral fellow will serve as respondent. In-depth discussion will follow.

In addition to their participation at the conference, speakers will have the opportunity to meet with Princeton faculty, graduate students and visiting scholars, to access the Princeton Hellenic Collections, and to take part in a range of activities over the course of their week-long stay in Princeton (arrival: Sunday, April 26, 2026 – departure: Sunday, May 3, 2026).

The Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies will cover participants' travel expenses to Princeton, at the lowest available rates, as needed, i.e., by ground transportation, bus or train, or by air, economy class to Newark Airport. Each speaker will be offered shared accommodation (double-occupancy, with another conference participant) for seven nights, as well as some meals during their stay in Princeton.

Eligibility
We invite submissions from doctoral candidates who are enrolled as graduate students at the time of the conference and are at an advanced stage of their doctoral dissertation work.

How To Apply
Please submit abstracts of no more than 500 words by Friday, February 6, 2026. Abstracts should include a reference to the theoretical and/or methodological approach(es) employed. All words in a non-Latin script (including Greek) should be transliterated. Each abstract should be accompanied by:

-cover letter of no more than one page explaining how the proposed paper relates to the applicant’s dissertation, and situating the applicant’s research within his/her academic field(s)
-curriculum vitae
-applicant's contact information (name, current affiliation, postal and e-mail addresses, tel. nos.)
-name and e-mail address of an academic referee

Receipt of all submissions will be acknowledged. Applicants will be notified of acceptance by Friday, February 27, 2026. Participants will be expected to submit the full text of their papers by Friday, April 10, 2026. As noted above, papers (approximately 5,000 words) will be pre-circulated among speakers, chairs, respondents, and interested attendees. Papers should be in English. Presentations summarizing the main points must not exceed 20 minutes. Accepted applicants will be offered advice by their assigned mentors on how to structure and what to focus on in their oral presentations.

Submissions should be emailed as a single PDF document to: hellenicprinceton.edu and geralisprinceton.edu with the subject line: “Modern Greek Studies Conference 2026 Proposal.”

Deadline: Friday, February 6, 2026

Program Committee

Samet Budak, Hellenic Studies
Kathleen Crown, Humanities
Stefano Di Pietrantonio, Hellenic Studies
Dimitri Gondicas, Humanities and Hellenic Studies
Molly Greene, History and Hellenic Studies
Soo-Young Kim, Writing Program
Nikos Panou, Hellenic Studies
Claudio Russello, Hellenic Studies