UNBOUND PROMETHEUS: profile and objectives
Unbound Prometheus was founded by Haris Kitsikopoulos, former Clinical Professor at the Department of Economics of NYU.
The seminars we offer do not place any restrictions on academic fields as long as the subject matters are on advanced, sophisticated topics. We choose them based on two main criteria. First, we place special value on hosting seminars on innovative subjects incorporating cutting-edge academic research. Second, we adopt seminar topics which have the widest possible appeal, i.e., are as interdisciplinary as possible.
The program has three main objectives. First, to showcase the achievements of Greek academics of the diaspora although we have blended the latter group with colleagues from different ethnic backgrounds. The second objective is to provide greater access to our seminars to low-income but academically gifted students in Greek universities through the establishment of a scholarship fund based on corporate and individual donations. And, lastly, to promote the idea of creating an Association of Greek Academics of the Diaspora which can play an active role in boosting Greece’ economic growth. More on the significance of the latter objective can be read in this essay.
KITSIKOPOULOS’ BIO
Prior to starting Unbound Prometheus, Kitsikopoulos’ teaching career spanned nearly a quarter of a century, 17 years of which at the Economics Department of New York University which ranks consistently among the top 10-15 economics departments in the world. His accomplishments at NYU included the highest teaching award in the College of Arts and Sciences as well as acting as adviser to its former president John Sexton.
Dr. Kitsikopoulos’ work is on British economic history, from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution, with particular emphasis on how institutions affect technological innovation and long-term economic growth. He has edited a collection of essays on the European economies of the late Middle Ages (Agrarian Change and Crisis in Europe, 1200-1500, Routledge, 2012) and authored two books on the invention and diffusion of British steam engines (Innovation and Technological Diffusion: An Economic History of Early Steam Engines, Routledge, 2016; and An Economic History of British Steam Engines, 1774-1870: A Study on Technological Diffusion, Springer, 2023). He is also the author of more than a dozen book chapters and articles some of which appeared in leading journals in the field of economic history (e.g., Journal of Economic History, Economic History Review and Agricultural History Review). His research has been presented at over 70 conferences and invited lectures across all continents.
Dr. Kitsikopoulos has been invited as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Tokyo and has held research fellowships from two of the top US academic institutions, the National Endowment for the Humanities (twice) and the Smithsonian. Finally, he is the recipient of the Henry Allen Moe Prize, awarded for the best article published in the journal of the American Philosophical Society, the oldest academic institution in the US.