Constantinos Coursaris, associate chair for Michigan State University’s Department of Media and Information, was awarded a fellowship by The Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program to travel to Greece to work with the University of the Aegean on curriculum co-development, collaborative research on digital entrepreneurship and assist with the professional development and mentoring of graduate students in digital entrepreneurship and electronic government.
"I feel honored to have been selected in the very first cohort of scholars selected for IIE’s Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program,” Coursaris said. “More importantly, as economic recovery in Greece will require investment in human capital at home, I hope to serve as a value-adding resource in the mentoring and eventual placement of graduate and post-graduate students. Also, I hope to both initiate and serve as a bridge for interdisciplinary, cutting-edge research collaborations that leverage the expertise available at our respective institutions.”
The Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program is designed to help avert Greece’s brain drain and develop long-term, mutually-beneficial collaborations between universities in Greece and the United States and Canada. It is managed by the Institute of International Education in collaboration with the Fulbright Foundation in Greece, and funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Coursaris is one of 21 Greek and Cypriot-born scholars, hailing from a cross-section of 16 prominent U.S. and Canadian universities, who will travel to Greece to conduct academic projects with their peers at Greek universities.
“The Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s generous support for these fellowships demonstrates the foundation’s commitment to expanding Greece’s human capital and investing in the country’s long-term economic recovery,” said Allan Goodman, president and CEO of IIE.