The American Hellenic Institute Foundation (AHIF), in collaboration with the Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at Queens College, CUNY, and the Asia Minor and Pontos Hellenic Research Center, has released a special thematic digital issue of the Journal of Modern Hellenism dedicated to the genocide of the Christian populations of the Ottoman Empire.
Published as Journal of Modern Hellenism 37 (Winter 2025–26), the issue is available free of charge through the AHIF publications website and brings together new scholarly research on the shared historical experiences of Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians during the early twentieth century.
The volume continues a long-standing collaboration between AHIF and Queens College in the co-publication of the Journal of Modern Hellenism and reflects the academic and educational mission of the Asia Minor and Pontos Hellenic Research Center, which has worked for decades to promote rigorous, comparative scholarship on genocide and mass violence against Ottoman Christian populations.
Dedicated to George Mavropoulos
This special issue is dedicated to the memory of George Mavropoulos (1938–2024), founder of the Asia Minor and Pontos Hellenic Research Center and a leading advocate for serious, inclusive scholarship on the genocide of Ottoman Christians.
Mavropoulos devoted much of his life to advancing research that placed the Greek experience alongside those of the Armenians and Assyrians within a broader comparative framework. His work emphasized historical documentation, interdisciplinary inquiry, and public education. In reflecting on his legacy, Journal of Modern Hellenism Managing Editor Dr. Constantine G. Hatzidimitriou describes Mavropoulos’ life’s work as marked by a “tireless and unselfish devotion to truth, justice, and to remembering those lost during that dark period.”
A Comparative Scholarly Approach
Guest-edited by historian and genocide scholar George N. Shirinian, JMH 37 examines what he describes as a shared historical trajectory, moving “from second-class citizenship to violent persecution and genocide, to forcible expulsion and dispersion.” The volume also addresses the long-term consequences of these events, including intergenerational psychological trauma and the role of memory in shaping modern identities.
In the Preface, Dr. Hatzidimitriou notes that the issue “resonates not only with Greeks but with other ethnicities that shared a common catastrophic and tragic experience,” and that the themes explored remain relevant beyond their historical context.
Contents of the Issue
The issue includes fourteen peer-reviewed scholarly articles, along with archival studies and book reviews, organized into thematic sections.
Part I: Genocide features nine articles examining the genocides of Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians during the Ottoman and early Kemalist periods. Topics include state ideology, deportations and massacres, American eyewitness accounts, U.S. institutional involvement, interethnic dimensions of violence, and the transmission of memory across generations.
Part II: Aftermath, Representation, and Denial includes studies of postwar political claims, cultural and religious transformation, memoir and remembrance, and the legal and national security frameworks used to justify mass violence.
An additional section, Archives and Sources, presents research based on previously underutilized or unpublished materials, including diplomatic correspondence, personal letters, archaeological and anthropological evidence, and documentary sources related to Asia Minor, Chios, Northern Epirus, and Smyrna.
The volume concludes with book reviews examining recent scholarship on the Greek Genocide, Smyrna during World War I, and the Greek War of Independence.
Expanding Access to Scholarship
By releasing JMH 37 in digital form and making it freely accessible, the editors aim to broaden public engagement with current research on genocide, memory, and historical justice, while honoring a scholarly legacy that has shaped the study of modern Hellenism and the history of Asia Minor.
The full issue of the Journal of Modern Hellenism (Winter 2025–26) is available online through the American Hellenic Institute Foundation.
Read the journal:
https://www.ahifworld.net/jmh-issues
Cosmos Philly is made possible through the support of sponsors and local partners. If you’d like to become a sponsor or promote your business to our community, get in touch.
