AIMS AND SCOPE

Our undergraduate programme promotes and develops important fields of the humanities and specialized fields within the wide area of English Studies. Students are encouraged to develop their intellectual faculties, an intercultural awareness, and to carry out independent research. We aspire to educate and train our students as scholars and future professionals. Our specific goals are to:

• provide our students with the theoretical and practical knowledge necessary for understanding how language operates, what the structure and the functions of the English language are, how language is used as social practice
• help them develop the necessary knowledge and communicative abilities in order to use the English language fluently for general and academic purposes
• help them develop their ability to apply theories of language and language learning to achieve research and educational objectives
• train them to apply linguistic theories in socially purposeful ways and be able to undertake projects in educational language planning, translation, the use of multimedia in research and education, lexicography, etc.
• examine and conduct research in English literature and culture
• study Greek culture and literature in relation to English and European literatures and cultures
• cultivate analytic and synthetic thinking, and the ability of students to write academic papers on Anglophone literature and culture, as well as in theoretical and applied linguistics
• develop their ability to analyse critically and evaluate texts through the acquisition and use of the proper theoretical tools and methodology with an aim of promoting research

The interdisciplinary character of our programme of studies leads to various professional fields, including education, publishing, translation, advertising, the media and the arts, the public and the private sector in Greece and abroad. Our programme also comprises an initial training in TEFL to ensure that our students are well prepared for a successful career in language education.

Studies in our Faculty do not merely aim at the development of academic competences and professional skills. They also aim at the development of our students’ social, political and cultural awareness. This is particularly true as regards the role of English, which is not viewed as a neutral tool of communication or a mere means through which to access knowledge and participate in the international job market. Its ideological role and political importance is taken into account knowing that English has an important part to play in the shaping of a global culture. Finally, our studies aim at cultivating students’ social sensitivity, as this is considered fundamental for their self-realization as active citizens, and at developing their social consciousness, which will allow them to critique cultural practices and ideologies.