Forced migration has been a consistent feature of modern Greek history, creating architectural solutions for crisis management. The ephemeral character of migrant architecture, however, has rendered it invisible to a historiography that privileges permanent monuments, especially those that illustrate a proud national heritage and continuities with an ancient monumentality. In this seminar architectural historian and archaeologist Kostis Kourelis (Franklin & Marshall College) will advocate for an archaeology of care, a diachronic study of installations where refugees have been cared for through the centuries. He will do so by considering an early case of humanitarian intervention in a global setting: the refugee colony of Washingtonia in Corinth, established by Americans in 1829 to house displaced people from Chios, Smyrna, and Athens. Kourelis will present the preliminary research for an undergraduate field school that aims to locate Washingtonia and create a cultural heritage management plan for the region’s migrant past.

Co-sponsored by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Public Humanities Initiative.