M.A. Religious Education

Ioanna Komninou

Ioanna Komninou is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Theology and the Study of Religion of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She teaches the courses of Pedagogy. Her research interests focus on the introduction of innovation in education and especially in the Religious Studies course. Dr. Komninou has served the Secondary Education for many years and she has been teaching in Standard and Experimental Schools for a period of 16 years. She has been awarded in Greece and internationally for innovation in education, for the development of educational programs and for the integration of technologies in teaching and learning. She has previous experience in several projects and coordinations. She has published extensively in journals, books and conference proceedings in the areas of Religious studies. 

Diotima Liantini - Nikolakakou

Diotima Liantini is a Professor at the Department of Social Theology and the Study of Religiοn of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Her research interests are in the fields of Art Teaching and Museum Culture. Dr. Diotima Lantini holds a bachelor’s degree in History and Archaeology, majoring in Archaeology and History of Art, of the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Athens. Her postgraduate studies are in the fields of History Teaching with a specialization in Museum Teaching and History of Arts, at Ludwig-Maximilian’s University of Munich. She holds a PhD in Museum and Art Education from the Faculty of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology of the University of Athens and a bachelor’s degree in Theology of the Department of Social Theology from the University of Athens.

Sotirios Despotis

Sotirios Despotis is a Professor at the Department of Social Theology and the Study of Religion. He teaches Interpretation of the New Testament. He also teaches "The Historical Course of the Orthodox Church and Theology in the Wider Religious and Cultural Environment from Late Antiquity to the 18th century" at the Hellenic Open University. Dr. Despotis is a member of the International and European Association of New Testament Theologians and he has published articles in both German and English language. Since 2018 he is President of the Patriarchal Foundation of the Orthodox Mission in the Far East and of the Centre of Excellence "Exploitation of Orthodox Heritage and Interreligious Dialogue". The last years he participates in the development of the new curriculum and supporting material for the teaching of Religious Education in Secondary Schools under the auspices of the Institute of Educational Policy of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. Has has also written a school manual and the Teacher's Guide for the course "Topics from the Bible" for the first grade of the Church high schools (S. Despotis, N. Pavlou, Ath. Stogiannidis, Athens 2019) and co-edited the first German-language textbook for the teaching of the Orthodox religion in Austria.

Vasileios Gaitanis

Vasileios Gaitanis is a Professor at the Department of Social Theology and the Syudy of Religion at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Has studied Philosophy, Theology and Psychology at the Universities of Athens, Nuremberg and Regensburg. He holds a degree in Philosophy-Psychology and Theology from the University of Athens. His postgraduate studies were in Germany with the eminent professors Riedel and Merk. He furthermore holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and his dissertation is on the topic: Theological and Philosophical Approach to the Poetry of Friedrich Holderin (the communication of philosophy and theology in the field of European idealism). He holds a Ph.D. in Theology and the dissertation title is: The Concept of Hopelessness in Kierkegaard and Dostoevsky. Has also received a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Logos Florida USA and a Ph.D. in Pedagogy from Bico de Papagaio State University of Brazil. Lastly, Dr. Gaitanis has also received the honorary title of the Archon from the Patriarchate of Alexandria.

Fr. Athanasios Melissaris

Fr. Athanasios Melissaris is an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Theology and the Study of Religion of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. His knowledge field is in "Pastoral Counseling and Psychology". He is a member of the American Psychological Association, author of Greek and foreign language articles and studies on religiosity, culture and personality. His research and scientific interests (published studies and articles) focus on Pastoral Care and Counselling, the coupling of Theology and Psychology in dealing with events and situations, problems and crises of the everyday human life.

Vasileios Kantas

Vasileios Kantas holds a bachelor’s degree and a PhD in Photography, as well as a master’s degree in Critical Theory. He received his postgraduate certification on Art Teaching and secured scholarships from Greece’s State Scholarships Foundation and from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. He holds a PhD from Wimbledon College of Art in the field of Philosophy of the photographic medium. His research interests are the reception of the photographic image. Since 2001 he has been exhibiting his work and teaching since 2010 in fields related to photography at the Aegean university, the Ionian University, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the London South Bank University, the Institute of Vocational Training and the Lifelong Learning Center of Attica. He teaches the use of the photographic image for teachers at the distance learning program Digital Narrative. Additionally, Dr. Kantas teaches subjects on the topics of 3d animation and augmented reality in Education at University of Crete, philosophical aspects in the distance learning program Photography: Theoretical approaches and personal style at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and its practical applications in the field of critical theory. At the University of West Attica he is a lecturer on Artistic photography. He supports photographers during the designing and development process of photographic works. His works are in collections such as the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts. gr.linkedin.com > vasileioskantas.  www.instagram.com/vassilisfoto

Maria Fraghi

Maria Fraghi is a member of the Specialized Teaching Staff of the Faculty of Theatre Studies of the University of Patras, with a specialization in Theatre Studies: Education, institutions and theatre production, Theatre for children and adolescents. She graduated from the Higher School of Dramatic Art of the Piraeus Conservatory in 1984 and from the Faculty of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 1986. She received her master’s degree in Modern Greek Literature and Theatrical Studies on 1988 at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens. Dr. Fraghi holds a Doctorate in Literature and Humanities, specializing in THEATRE - PERFORMING ARTS, from the University of PARIS X-NANTERRE (1996). She performed in the theatre and has directed many productions for professional and amateur companies since 1983. She founded the "Laboratory of Theatre Research and Art" at the University of Crete and the "TI THA PEI?" group at the University of Athens with a focus on researching performances for young audiences. She directed the "Hellenic Cultural Centre of Cairo" and the magazine PAPYROI. She is a member of the Greek Actors' Association, the Society of Greek Directors, the International Theatre Institute, IDEA, the Committee of Artistic Schools of the Ministry of Education and Culture (2015- 2018) and the Hellenic Centre for Theatrical Anthropology. She has been teaching theatre, theory and practice, at universities in Greece and abroad since 1997. She is the author of articles, books on theatre (Theatrical Education in the 5th and 6th grade, Stage Acting in School), Curricula - Guides for the Teacher on the Art of the Actor, Artistic Education and Theatre in Education and Society etc. Dr. Fraghi is also the editor of the program "In the School of Shadows", under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.  Recent productions of hers are: "Diary of a letter" by M.Tshiskaki-Galiatsatou, "The escapees of the chessboard" by E.Trivizas-G.Kuroupou, "Goodbye Syria", (2017), "Baba Yaga, the dark turtledove & the Seagull" (2017). She received a grant from the Ministry of Culture and Sports, for the direction of "Filargiro" by Elizabeth Moutzan Martinegkou (2019) and "Zafiritsa's Feretzes or Malakoff and fustanella" (2021).

Achilleas Dellis

Achilleas Dellis was born in Cologne, Germany. He studied Classical Literature at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Directing at the Stavrakos School. He received a scholarship from the Greek Film Centre in memory of Rafailidis to complete his postgraduate studies in film theory in Glasgow and received a scholarship from the State's Scholarships Foundation to complete his PhD on "The formation and development of film theory and criticism in Greece". He has been working in secondary education since 2001, first in private and then in public sector schools. Since 2009 he has been writing critical texts on cinema in Greek journals (Frear, Nea Efthini, Nea Estia, etc.) and more rarely in foreign journals (Letter of Greek Studies, Journal of Hellenic Diaspora). Articles on film criticism can be found at mag.frear.gr and on educational reflection at protagon.gr. Furthermore, he is a member of the Hellenic Film Academy. Previously, Dr. Dellis, wrote literature, which is mainly consisted of short stories published by Minos for upcoming writers. He also participated in the development of the Literature Curriculum in 2017-2019 while in 2019 he was a Fulbright scholar and since 2020 he is a partner of European film factory. He has participated in workshops on education, Greek and international conferences on education and film. Has also collaborated with the Plato’s Academy, the adult educational program of the University of Athens. Since 2013, he has been working at the 1st Standard General Lyceum of Athens-Gennadeio, where he runs a film association.

Efstathios Leoutsakos

Stathis (Efstathios) Leoutsakos is a graduate of the Department of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology of the Faculty of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He holds a master’s degree in Teaching Modern Greek as a foreign language and a PhD in pedagogy from the Department of Secondary Education. His academic interests are in terms of writing books, articles and presentations in scientific conferences and workshops and they are related to literacies, critical reading and teaching strategies. He has been involved, as a trainer, in teacher training and the use of new technologies in the teaching of literature courses. Dr. Leoutsakos has participated in various projects of the Ministry of Education, such as the development, training, and piloting of curricula for the Modern Language course, the design of the language teaching scenarios of Proteas, the training of teachers in differentiated teaching, etc. Since 2013, he has been working as a philologist at the 1st Standard General Lyceum of Athens.