"Bridging Identity and Heritage: Greek Canadian Stories in the Digital Age"
On May 9-10 and 15, 2025, the Hellenic Heritage Foundation Chair of Modern Greek History and the HHF Greek Canadian Archives will host the 4th Greek Canadian Studies Conference titled “Bridging Identity and Heritage: Greek Canadian Stories in the Digital Age.”
The opening day of the conference will feature a panel focusing on digital public history partnerships. Scholars and archivists from the Greek, Italian, and Portuguese Canadian communities will present their approaches to preserving diasporic histories. This will be followed by a roundtable from the HHF GCA researchers, who will reflect on the methodological issues and practices involved in their digital projects.
On May 10, the conference moves into an interactive music workshop titled “From Who We Were to Who We Are: Diasporic Identity in Motion”. This workshop will explore how diasporic identities are constructed and re-enunciated through music, with a focus on the transcultural places of Toronto. Through storytelling, conversation and music-making, participants will reflect on their musical identities and how they are shaped by being in, moving through and creating space.
The conference concludes on May 15 at the Polymenakeio Cultural Centre, where our researchers will share their digital projects and key outcomes with the broader community. These include oral history interviews hosted in our revamped Oral History Collection Archive, historical maps, photographic exhibitions, and other interactive digital resources. This event serves as meaningful way of giving back to the community, without the support of which our understanding of the Greek Canadian heritage would be significantly poorer.
RSVP email address: hhfgca@yorku.ca
Program:
Friday, May 9, 2025
York University, Atkinson Building Room 109.
Join via Zoom here.
10 – 11 AM Community Archives in Practice: Digital Public History Partnerships
The Greeks in Canada: A Digital Public History Project
Sakis Gekas, Associate Professor, HHF Chair in Modern Greek History, York University.
Knowing Ourselves: Exploring Symbolic Annihilation in the Canadian Archival Landscape
Maria Paraschos, Adjunct Archivist (HHF GCA), York University Libraries.
Portuguese Canadian History Project and the Diaxporas Migration Research Collective at York University
Gilberto Fernandes, Visiting Scholar, York University.
Creating a Digital Archive: The Italian-Canadian Archives Project Case Study as a Work in Progress
Abril Liberatori, Assistant Professor, Mariano A. Elia Chair in Italian-Canadian Studies, York University.
11 – 11:30 AM Coffee Break
11:30 AM – 1 PM Archiving the Greek Canadian Experience: Insights from the HHF Greek Canadian Archives Team
Moderated by Vasilis (Bill) Molos, Chair of Liberal Studies, University of Guelph-Humber.
Discussants:
Alexandra Mourgou, MITACS Postdoctoral Fellow, York University.
Alexandros Balasis, PhD Candidate, York University.
Angelo Laskaris, PhD Candidate, York University.
Effrosyni Rantou, PhD Candidate, York University.
Theo Xenophontos, PhD Candidate, York University.
Victoria Rigas, PhD Student, York University.
Saturday, May 10, 2025
York University, Kaneff Tower Room 519.
Join via Zoom here.
1 – 4 PM Navigating Identity Through Transcultural Blending: Music Spaces in Toronto
From Who We Were to Who We Are Becoming
Convened by:
Alexandra Mourgou, MITACS Postdoctoral Fellow, York University.
Matias Recharte, Musician/educator/researcher, PhD, University of Toronto.
Moderated by:
Alexandra Mourgou, MITACS Postdoctoral Fellow, York University.
Effrosyni Rantou, PhD Candidate, York University.
This interactive workshop explores how diasporic identities are constructed and re-enunciated through music, with a focus on the transcultural places of Toronto. Moving beyond theory, we center the lived experiences of musicians, venue creators, educators, and cultural participants—those actively shaping urban music places. Guided by three interconnected axes—places of origin, influential networks, and the evolving music places of Toronto—we reflect on how identity is negotiated through sound, space, and community. From homes and basements to imagined homelands and public stages, music becomes a vehicle for memory, belonging, and transformation. Through storytelling, conversation and music-making, participants will be invited to reflect on their musical identities and how they are shaped by being in, moving through and creating space. Together, we will explore how music acts as a site of both continuity and change—where ‘who we were’ meets ‘who we’re becoming.’
Note: This event is open to anyone who are willing and interested in sharing their experiences, the format encourages open conversation rather than a conventional “panel.” Please join us, bring your instruments and spread the word!
Speakers:
Aline Morales, Singer & Percussionist, Member of KUNE.
Athina Malli, Musician & Singer.
Sylvia Mittler, Musician, Professor University of Toronto.
Waleed Abdulhamid, Bass Player, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.
Yehia El Besher, Singer & Music Maker.
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Polymenakeion Cultural Centre, 30 Thorncliffe Park Drive, Toronto.
6 PM Welcome & Opening Remarks
6:30–7:30 PM Building the Greek Community in the Digital Age
The Greeks in Canada Digital History Project: Giving Back to the Community
Sakis Gekas, Associate Professor, HHF Chair in Modern Greek History, York University.
Between Migration and Memory: Milestones of the HHF Greek Canadian Archives at York University
Vasilis (Bill) Molos, Chair of Liberal Studies, University of Guelph-Humber.
Physical Holdings Update: Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections
Maria Paraschos, Adjunct Archivist (HHF GCA), York University Libraries.
7:30–8:30 PM The HHF Greek Canadian Archives Projects
Childhood Narratives of Greek Canadians from the 1940s
Angelo Laskaris, PhD Candidate, York University.
Film as Mediator and the Oral History Collection
Theo Xenophontos, PhD Candidate, York University.
Greek Businesses in Toronto a Digital Historical Map
Alexandros Balasis, PhD Candidate, York University.
Music Places on the Danforth: Exploring the Greek Canadian Experience
Alexandra Mourgou, MITACS Postdoctoral Fellow, York University.
Diasporic Time Machines: Exploring Memory through Materialities and Objects
Effrosyni Rantou, PhD Candidate, York University.
Images of Identity: Historicizing Photographs in the HHF Greek Canadian Archives
Victoria Rigas, PhD Student, York University.