Introduction
Ever since its foundation in 1983 the Department of Philology at the University of Crete has functioned in a way that makes it a pioneer among similar departments in this period. For example, in its Program of Studies it has put emphasis on flexibility by offering students a large number of options, it has established the first independent Division of Theatre Studies and Musicology in Greece, and it was the first in the country to develop film studies at university level.
The Department's mission is to practise and promote studies within its broad subject area (Classical, Byzantine and Modern Greek Philology, Linguistics, Theatre Studies) by means of academic teaching and scholarly research. Its goal is to provide its students with the essential knowledge and skills which will ensure that they are thoroughly prepared for a career in a relevant professional field. In this way it aims to make a contribution both to improving the quality of secondary education and to advancing scholarship in its area.


Program of Studies
The basic instrument for achieving these objectives is the Department's Program of Studies, which has been in place in its revised form since the academic year 1988-9 and is still the most flexible in Greece, with numerous options and a comparatively small number of compulsory courses. To be specific, the Program consists of 52 courses, which the student must pass over a minimum of 8 semesters, in order to obtain a degree from the Department. In regard to its structure, the Program aims at cultivating the values of theoretical and applied knowledge, as well as scholarly research, as part of the professional profile of its graduates. For this reason it comprises three different types of course: a) Lectures (the theoretical presentation of a subject of study), b) Practical classes (the applied study of a particular subject) and c) Seminars (systematic research on a specific topic under the teacher's supervision, for the purpose of writing an academic paper).
As regards its content, the Program aims both to provide students with a general training in philology and to offer the opportunity for some basic specialisation in the subject area of one of the Department's four Divisions: (1) Classical Studies, (2) Byzantine and Modern Greek Philology, (3) Linguistics and (4) Theatre Studies and Musicology. The student's general training is achieved by means of a series of compulsory introductory courses in Ancient Greek, Latin, Byzantine and Modern Greek Philology, History of the Greek Language and History of the Modern Greek Theatre. Students are also required to attend compulsory courses in other Departments of the Faculty of Arts (History, Philosophy and Education) in order to broaden their areas of competence.
Basic specialisation is put into practice at the beginning of the students' third semester, when they nominate the Division in which they will complete the rest of their studies. In addition to the basic compulsory courses, they begin to attend the more specialised courses provided by the Divisions:
Division of Classical Studies: courses in epic poetry, lyric poetry (archaic and postclassical periods), drama (tragedy and comedy), historiography, philosophical prose and rhetoric, the ancient novel, courses in ancient Greek civilisation, etc.
Division of Byzantine and Modern Greek Philology: Byzantine religious poetry and hymnography, learned Byzantine secular literature, Byzantine historians and chroniclers, late Byzantine philology, Cretan and Heptanesian literature, the Enlightenment, Modern Greek literature from the 19th century to the present day, etc.
Division of Linguistics: dialectology, ethnolinguistics, sociolinguistics, computational linguistics, philosophy of language, psycholinguistics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, semiotics, etc.
Division of Theatre Studies and Musicology: units in the history and theory of theatre and film (modern Greek and international), ethnomusicology, ancient and western music, Greek traditional and popular music, etc.

Material and technical resources
The Department of Philology has modern seminars rooms and amphitheatres for its practical classes, seminars and lectures, with all the necessary equipment. In addition, the Department has four laboratories attached to their respective Divisions:
  (1) The Papyrology and Epigraphy Laboratory, serving the teaching and research needs of subjects in this field;
  (2) The Paleography Laboratory and Microfilm Archive, serving research and teaching needs in the fields of papyrology and codicology and also of studies in philology and in the history of Byzantium and the modern Greek world;
  (3) The Linguistics Laboratory, whose mission is to apply technological approaches in carrying out and developing research in topics within the broad field of both theoretical and applied linguistics;
  (4) The Theatre Studies and Musicology Laboratory, serving teaching and research needs in the fields of theatre, music and cinema, with its own extensive collection of slides, records, books and films as well as modern audiovisual equipment.
  The University Library, to which all students have access with lending rights, has one of the largest collections in Greece in the fields of literary studies, linguistics, theatre, film studies and musicology. It has an exceptionally rich collection of scholarly journals. There is also a computer laboratory for students to use as an information, training and communication resource.

Collaboration with universities in other countries
In the course of their studies students have the opportunity to attend courses in corresponding subjects in foreign universities, under the Socrates-Erasmus Program. Our Department participates in four inter-university programs through which it cooperates with fifteen European university departments. Also, under the auspices of the Division of Byzantine and Modern Greek Philology, the Logios Ermis Website has been created to function as an information bank on research and teaching in Modern Greek studies throughout the world (http://logiosermis.phl.uoc.gr).

Professional opportunities
Graduates of the Department of Philology, according to University Career Service, can find employment:
  - in libraries and archives
  - in newspapers and periodicals
  - in publishing companies and organisations
  - in local government
  - as teachers of language and literature in secondary education (both public and private)
  - in work related to their field of competence in the publishing area (as translators and editors, linguists, editorial consultants, writers of materials for language and literature courses at school level etc.) and in the press
  - as teachers of Greek as a foreign language
  - as casual teachers or instructors in various educational institutions (professional training institutes and centres, the national employment organisation, colleges of studies in tourism, defence force academies, police academies, nursing colleges, etc.)
  - in programs organised by regional education extension commitees to teach Greek in literacy courses and to socially marginalised groups (e.g. Roma)
  - in research centres
  - in theatrical organisations and in the mass media.
For further information on work and study students and graduates may contact the University Career Service.

Postgraduate studies
Since 1993/4 the Department of Philology has offered a program of postgraduate studies with specialisation in classical, Byzantine and Modern Greek philology, in linguistics and in theatre and film. The program aims to create young scholars who will fill posts in research centres and university departments. It offers a Specialist Postgraduate Diploma (first level) and a Doctorate (second level). Students also have the opportunity to participate in research programs. A particular advantage of this Department is its close link with the Mediterranean Studies Institute. which is overseen by the Secretariat-General for Research and Technology.