Michail Theodosiadis, PhD

Introduction

Dr Michail Theodosiadis has been a Lecturer in Politics and an MA Supervisor at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH), Department of Social Sciences, since 2023. His teaching expertise spans Comparative Political Theory, Political Geography, and Theories of International Relations. Before joining UKH, Dr. Theodosiadis was a Sessional Lecturer in Byzantine Political Thought and Diplomacy at Charles University (Prague). He has also taught International Relations at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Newham University Centre (London). Additionally, he participates in postdoctoral research projects at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Department of Philosophy. Since February 2021, he has served as an Ex-Officio member of the Study in Greece (SiG) organization, which collaborates with the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Greek Ministry of Education to promote the internationalisation of Greek universities.

Dr Theodosiadis regularly engages in discussions with Greek diplomats on education, cultural diplomacy, transnational peace and cooperation. He has also worked with the Medici Archive Project (Florence, Italy) as Communications Manager for the Early Modern Greek Culture Programme, where he established academic networks worldwide and organized prestigious international conferences under the auspices of NKUA, the Secretary-General for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy, and various Greek diaspora organizations. He frequently appears on Greek media outlets such as OPEN TV, ERT (Greece’s national TV and radio broadcaster), and Dion TV, as well as Iraqi media including Rudaw and Babylon FM. Dr Theodosiadis is fluent in Greek, English, and Italian.

He has presented at several prestigious academic and high-profile conferences, including: (1) The Promethean Philosopher King and the Pursuit of Ethical Leadership, oral presentation after invitation in Koç University, Istanbul (2024); (2) Reconciling Wisdom and Power: Possibilities, Challenges, and Strategies for Virtuous Leadership”, oral presentation after invitation in Strategic Leadership and Innovation Forum (2024). American University of Iraq in Slemani, Slemani, Iraq; (3) Orthodox Christianity and Religious Tolerance in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, after invitation to the Fourth International Conference On Religious Diplomacy (2024), organized by The Foreign Policy Journal, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Department of Theology), Orthodoxtimes.gr, and the Institute of Foreign Affairs (Greece), under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, greeted by the Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew; (4) Early Byzantine political thought and the contemporary global political project, oral presentation in the Fifth Colloquia Cererea International Conference (2023) (Cereneum Center, University of Lodz, Poland); (5) The triumph of liberty, the loss of freedom; democracy and republicanism beyond Western liberalism, oral presentation in Authoritarianism in the Eurasian Context: From Antiquity to the Present (2022), organized by the National and Kapodistrian University of Greece (NKUA) (Department of Philosophy); (6) Common semiotics in Homer and Dante’, oral presentation (after invitation) in the 4th Conference on Epistemology (Greece) (2021). Funded by: The Association of Ancient Greek Philosophy ‘syn Athena’, in collaboration with the Laboratory of Semiotics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. International Conference.

Education

• - PhD in Politics and International Relations (Goldsmiths, University of London)
• - PCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (Goldsmiths, University of London, Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre).
• - MSc in Social and Political Theory (Birkbeck, University of London)
• - BHons in Arts (Kingston University, London).

Research

His research and teaching interests encompass: (A) the comparative examination of ancient Greek concepts of democracy, with a focus on political participation, and American democratic political traditions; (B) the contribution of ancient Greek, Arabic, and Byzantine cosmopolitanism to fostering peace between nations; (C) debates surrounding security, transnational conflict, and international peacebuilding; and (D) the comparative study of Western, Byzantine, and Islamic intellectual histories. In particular, he focuses on the political thought of Thucydides, Aristotle, Plato, Al-Farabi, the Greek Orthodox Fathers, Thomas Hobbes, Hans Morgenthau, and Hannah Arendt. Another cluster of his research examines the Greek diaspora in relation to cultural diplomacy. He has collaborated with research groups from Charles University (Prague), exploring topics related to the Greek diaspora in Eastern Europe and the Middle East from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Dr Theodosiadis has published articles in several international peer-reviewed academic journals, including Triple C, Polis: Revista de Științe Politice, Dia-noesis, Θεολογία (Theologia), Religions, and Φιλοσοφεῖν (Philosophein), both in English and Greek. His work largely addresses leadership, cross-cultural collaboration, conflict resolution, peacebuilding, Byzantine diplomacy, Western liberalism, democracy, and republicanism. His first peer-reviewed academic monograph, titled American Republicanism and Ancient Greek Democracy: Prometheus in Political Theory, is scheduled for publication in January 2025 by Edinburgh University Press (as part of the Edinburgh Studies in Comparative Political Theory and Intellectual History series). A Greek translation will be published by Zitros Books (Thessaloniki). Currently, he is editing his second monograph, which focuses on leadership and ethics from a cross-cultural perspective. His most recent publications are: Theodosiadis, M., and Vavouras, E., ‘The Concept of Religion in Machiavelli: Political Methodology, Propaganda and Ideological Enlightenment’. Religions. 2024; 15(10). DOI: doi.org/10.3390/rel15101203 Theodosiadis, M., and Vavouras, E., ‘The Pursuit for Cosmic Wisdom and ‘Promethean’ Leadership in the Pythagorean and Al-Fārābīan Political Philosophy’. Religions. 2024; 15(10). DOI: doi.org/10.3390/rel15101280; co-authored with Dr Elias Vavouras. Other important publications Theodosiadis, M., and Vavouras, E., ‘Religion as a Means of Political Conformity and Obedience: From Critias to Thomas Hobbes. Religions. 2023; 14(9). DOI: doi.org/10.3390/rel14091180; co-authored with Dr Elias Vavouras. Theodosiadis, M., ‘The Byzantine cosmopolis beyond Western liberalism”., in Dia-noesis: a journal for Philosophy 2022. Volume 13. (33-62). DOI: doi.org/10.3390/rel14040541 Theodosiadis, M., [The profound anthropocentrism of popular eucosmia and the reception of freedom in relation to self-purification: from Aristotle and ancient tragedy to the Christian notion of love and from Simone Weil to Martin Luther King Jr] («Ἡ βαθειὰ ἀνθρωποκεντρικότητα τῆς λαϊκῆς εὐκοσμίας καὶ ἡ ἐλευθερία ὡς κάθαρση: ἀπὸ τὴν Ἀριστοτελικὴ σκέψη καὶ τὴν ἀρχαία τραγωδία στὴ χριστιανικὴ ἀγάπη καὶ ἀπὸ τὴ Simone Weil στὸν Martin Luther King τὸν νεώτερο»), Theologia journal 2022 (issued by the Church of Greece). Volume A (1), pp.133-163.

Professional Membership

• Higher Education Academy (Associate Fellow, PR136328)