"When I came there were no graduates with money for just modern Greek. Now 18 have done doctorates with a modern Greek element," she says. "That's quite an impressive number.

"Now I think a new situation exists," Alexiou says. "I think we can continue to fundraise from Greek or Greek-American sources, but we can count on Harvard support...In other words, the program can now hope to move on to a new phase."

Alexiou adds that she doesn't see why politics would play a role in what is studied. Departments don't need to compete--rather, she says, they should "foster friendly relationships."

"I do not see, in principle, why there should be any problem, provided that...the academics can handle it sensibly and be able to deal with the narrow nationalisms that can exist, including, sometimes, [with] the donors. That can be a problem when a donor says [for example], this has to go to a Greek-loving Greek or a Turk-loving Turk," Alexiou says.

Greece and Turkey have been at odds over their shared island of Cyprus for over 30 years. In 1974, the Greek military led an unsuccessful campaign to make Cyprus a full part of Greece. Over 30 percent of Cyprus' populations are ethnic Turks.

It is up to academic institutions like Harvard to ensure that political concerns do not clash with intellectual goals, Alexiou says.

"There should not be allowed to develop a conflict of interest between say, Greek and Turkish studies...I get on extremely well with my colleagues in Ottoman and Turkish studies. I don't see why it should be anything other than that way," she says.

At an annual memorial lecture, she says, an ethnomusicologist talked about eastern influences on Greek music.