Katerina Zacharia

Professor of Classics, Chair of Classics & Archaeology

  • Los Angeles CA UNITED STATES
  • University Hall 3700
  • Classics & Archaeology

Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts

Contact

Biography

Katerina Zacharia is a Professor of Classics and Chair of Classics & Archaeology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Her academic and professional work explores classical antiquity in visual and performance culture, and in Greek ethnic identity formation. She is the author of "Converging Truths: Euripides’ Ion and the Athenian Quest for Self-Definition" (Brill 2003), and editor and major contributor for "Hellenisms: Culture, Identity and Ethnicity from Antiquity to Modernity" (Ashgate 2008/Routledge 2016), and articles on Greek tourism, Greek cinema, and cultural politics.
Prof. Zacharia is an award-winning educator with expertise in inclusive pedagogy, and cross-cultural exchange in local and global partnerships. She produced theatrical performances and workshops for the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation in Athens (2006-present), and the Stanford Repertory Theatre (2012-18). As Director of Education for the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, she has created a vibrant student internship program (2014-present). She wrote, directed, and produced the award-winning short documentary "Blessings and Vows" (2018), and has collaborated on the writing of documentaries, fiction, and VR games. She co-created "Enthralled," a new conversation game for higher education (2022).
Her work has been supported with fellowships from the A.S. Onassis Foundation, A.G. Leventis Foundation, Heritage Management Organization, Stanford University. She is the recipient of innovative teaching awards, including the 2018 President’s Fritz B. Burns Distinguished Teaching Award from Loyola Marymount University, the 2019 Teacher Eddy Award from the LAX Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles, the 2023 Society of Classical Studies for Excellence in Teaching Classics at the University level, and the 2024 inaugural Excellence in Teaching LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts Award.
She served in the Executive Board as Treasurer and Chair of Fundraising and Long-Term Planning for the Modern Greek Studies Association in North America (2020-23). She served as Council Chair for the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts (2023-24). Currently serves as the Director of the Classics & Archaeology Learning Community Series (2022-present).

Education

University College London

Ph.D.

Classics

University College London

M.A.

Classics

University of Athens

B.A.

Psychology and Philosophy

Social

Areas of Expertise

Classics and Archaeology
Classical Reception
Greek drama
Greek Cinema
Greek ethnicity
Race and Ethnicity
Cultural and Critical Theory
Visual Studies
Representations in the Media
Tourism and heritage studies

Industry Expertise

Writing and Editing
Education/Learning
Performing Arts
Entertainment

Accomplishments

2018 President's Fritz B. Burns Distinguished Teaching Award

2018-04-19

This award, established in 1993 and endowed by Loyola Marymount University's devoted benefactor, is bestowed on the faculty member whose dedication to teaching, research and the University Community exemplifies academic leadership. The recipient is nominated by his/her peers and chosen by a faculty committee. Professors from all colleges and schools are eligible, but the recipient's devotion to "education of the whole person," both in practice and in life, transcends a specific field of study.

2023 Award for Excellence in Teaching Classics at the University Level

2024-01-05

The Society for Classical Studies (SCS) was founded as the American Philological Association in 1869. It is the principal membership organization in North America for the study of ancient Greek and Roman languages, literatures, history, material culture and the relationship of Greek and Roman culture to the broader ancient Mediterranean and beyond. This is the highest SCS teaching excellence award at the College and University level bestowed upon one to three recipients per year nationally.

Affiliations

  • Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, Athens, Greece
  • Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, Director of Education

Media Appearances

Greece vs Hellas: The Semantics behind the country of many names

Greek Reporter  online

2017-03-26

An interview on the origin and semantics of Greece's different names.

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Radio Interview on my life and career

Kosmos FM, New York, NY  radio

2015-06-06

Interviewed by Panos Satzoglou on my life and career focusing esp. on my new appointment as Director of Education and Culture for the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival

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"Nelly's Iconography (1924-1939): A reconsideration of Nelly's connections with Metaxas' pro-fascist regime"

Loyola Marymount University  online

2015-05-16

Classics & Archaeology Symposium 2015.

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Research Grants

Ancient Drama: Influences and Modern Approaches

Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, Athens, Greece

2012-09-01

Coordinator and Education Director for “The Wanderings of Odysseus" special program. With Prof. Rush Rehm (Stanford Summer Theater), we staged a two-hour play adaptation of Homer's Odyssey, with original music and gave four performances at the Michael Cacoyannis Cultural Foundation in Athens, Greece (August 31-September 16, 2012). The extensive program also included five three-hour workshops, and four three-hour seminars for theater professionals. The Program was the first year of the series “Ancient Drama: Influences and Modern Approaches” 2012-2014, and was approved and funded by the European Union under the National Strategic Reference Framework 2007–2013, Improvement of Cultural Services in the Region of Attica/Operational Program of Attica–Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Hellenic Republic.

Postcards from Greece: The uses of antiquity in Tourist Brochures and popular Culture (1929-2009).

Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, Athens, Greece

2011-01-01

Research conducted during the Senior Foreign Research Fellowship on tourist publications in the interwar period led to the publication of “Postcards from Metaxas’ Greece: The Uses of Classical Antiquity in tourism photography”, in Dimitris Tziovas (ed.), "Re-imagining the Past: Antiquity and Modern Greek Culture." Oxford University Press 2014: 186-208.

The uses of classical antiquity in Greek Tourism

Initiative of Heritage Conservancy, Athens, Greece

2009-08-15

Work conducted during the Senior Research Fellowship led to the publication of “Nelly’s iconography”, in Philip Carabott, Yannis Hamilakis & Eleni Papargyriou (eds.), "Camera Graeca: Photographs, Narratives, Materialities." Ashgate, Center for Hellenic Studies, King’s College London, 2015: 233-256.

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Courses

CLAR 2210 Greek Tragedy in Performance

A study of the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (in translation), with an emphasis on production.

CLAR 2220 Greek Comedy in Performance

A study of the plays of Aristophanes and Menander (in translation), with an emphasis on production.

CLAR 2240 Ancient Greece

A survey of Hellenic civilization from its origins in the Bronze Age until the Hellenistic period, encompassing the study of archaeology, history, literature, religion, philosophy, and the fine arts.

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Articles

Nelly's Iconography of Greece

Camera Graeca: Photographs, Narratives, Materialities

2015-06-01

"Nelly's Iconography of Greece." Camera Graeca: Photographs, Narratives, Materialities Vol. 16 (2015).

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Postcards from Metaxas' Greece: The uses of classical antiquity in tourism photography

Re-imagining the Past: Antiquity and Modern Greek Culture

2014-06-01

"Postcards from Metaxas' Greece: The uses of classical antiquity in tourism photography." Re-imagining the Past: Antiquity and Modern Greek Culture. Ed. Dimitris Tziovas. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2014.

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Hellenism

Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome

2010-01-04

"Hellenism." Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. Ed. Michael Gagarin. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010.

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