Mediterranean Cities

Athens, Istanbul, Alexandria: three iconic cities of the Levant that will serve as points of reference in a focused exploration of East Mediterranean history and culture. Reads and discusses a number of texts that span several decades and a wide range of styles and genres – from realism to postmodernism and from autobiography to thriller – but exhibit a common interest in the urban landscape and its relationship to basic aspects of human existence: identity and ideology, memory and desire, isolation and connection, hope and fear, life and death. Authors include Theotokas, Seferis, Taktsis, Durrell, Mahfouz, Kharrat, Tanpinar, Shafak, Altun.