Sakis Gekas is Associate Professor in the Department of History at York University specializing in Modern Greek and Mediterranean History, and the History of Greeks in Canada. Sakis is also the coordinator of the Hellenic Studies Program, Department of Humanities at York University. He obtained his MA (Social History) and Ph.D. (History) from the University of Essex and his BA (History) from Ionian University, Corfu. His research interests include the history of British colonialism in the Mediterranean, the economic and social history of the Ionian Islands and the Greek State in the nineteenth century, and the history of Greeks in Canada. Sakis is also the President of the Hellenic Canadian Academic Association of Ontario and a member of the Executive of the Modern Greek Studies Association. In 2022 Sakis won a York University President’s Research Awards for Outstanding Knowledge Mobilization & Impact for his leadership in Greek Canadian History that resulted in a substantial donation from the Hellenic Heritage Foundation to establish the HHF Greek Canadian Archives to help York preserve, catalogue, digitize and teach Greek-Canadian history.
Research Projects
“Greeks in Canada: A Digital Public History” will contribute to the historiography on migration, ethnicity, and homeland politics, while also reflecting on methodological approaches in digital history. This project has been generously funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Grant and is part of the HHF Greek Canadian Archives. The project has already led to the HHF GCA History Digital Portal
The fighters of the 1821 Greek Revolution.
Teaching
2023-24
HIST 3355. History of Modern Greece
HIST 3357. Greece; a Modern History (Summer abroad course)
2022-23
HIST 3355. History of Modern Greece.
HIST 3357. Greece; a Modern History (Summer abroad course)
HIST 4375. Topics in Modern Greek History: “Greek Fever”. A history of the Greek Revolution of 1821
2021-22 on sabbatical leave
2020-21 (all taught online)
HIST 3356. Greeks in the World. A History of Greek migration and diaspora in the 20th century
HIST 3326.
HIST 4375. Topics in Modern Greek History: “Greek Fever”. A history of the Greek Revolution of 1821
HIST 6001. Directed Reading Course: Social and Economic History of Modern and Contemporary Europe
2019-20
HIST 3357. Greece; a Modern History since 1800. This course is taught as a summer abroad course.
HIST 3356. Greeks in the World. A History of Greek migration and diaspora in the 20th century (online course)
HIST 2300. A history of Modern Europe. From the French Revolution to the European Union
Publications
Απόμαχοι. Οι αγωνιστές της Επανάστασης του 1821 στο Οθωνικό Κράτος (“Veterans. The fighters of the 1821 Revolution during the period of King Otto’s State”). Εκδόσεις Εθνικό Ίδρυμα Ερευνών / Ινστιτούτο Ιστορικών Ερευνών, Ιστορική Βιβλιοθήκη 1821, Athens 2021.
Ξενοκρατία. Οικονομία, Κοινωνία και Κράτος στα Επτάνησα (1815-1864), Εκδόσεις ΕΑΠ.
Xenocracy. State, Class and Colonialism in the Ionian Islands, 1815-1864, Berghahn (2017). You can find more information about the book here:
http://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/GekasXenocracy
In July 2012, the Greek Canadian History Project (GCHP) at York University was founded with Sakis Gekas, HHF Chair in Modern Greek History and Chris Grafos, History Ph.D. as its co-stewards. Beyond its inherent value of collecting and telling the stories of the Greek diaspora in Canada, the GCHP is an initiative designed and committed to identifying, acquiring, digitizing, preserving, and providing access to primary source materials that reflect the experiences of Canada’s Greek immigrants and their descendants. The Greek Canadian History Project will become fundamental in illuminating and sharing the history and events that have shaped the experiences of Greek immigrants in Canada and their descendants.
