Education:
PhD, Department of Communication and Media Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (2012);
MSc, “History and Philosophy of Science and Technology,” Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (2022);
MA, “Cultural Studies,” Department of Communication and Media Studies, (2011);
BA, Department of English Language and Literature, School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (2003).
Dissertation title:
The Subversive Function of Beckett’s Humor with Respect to the Process of Communication and its Ethico-Political Implications in the Context of the Society of the Spectacle
Non-Exhaustive List of Major Publications:
Monographs
-Tsakalakis, T. (2023). Science Communication, Bioethical Dilemmas, and New Media. Kallipos (in Greek).
-Tsakalakis, T. (2021). Political Correctness: A Sociocultural Black Hole. Routledge.
-Tsakalakis, T. (2017). Misanthropy: The Ultimate Grand Narrative. Smili (in Greek).
-Tsakalakis, T. (2010). Beckett’s Humotopia. Patakis.
Chapters in Collective Volumes
-Tsakalakis, T. (2020). Cultural prejudices against Greeks in British newspapers during the years of the financial crisis. In Mass Media and Everyday Life in Crisis-Ridden Greece. Department of Communication and Media Studies (in Greek).
-Tsakalakis, T. (2015). The deconstructive function of humor in Beckett’s tragicomedies. In G. Kakoliris (ed.), Politics and Ethics in Jacques Derrida’s Thought. Plethron (in Greek).
-Tsakalakis, T. (2014). Beckett’s “unnameable,” messianism, and silicon dioxide. In M. Komninos & M. Rigou (eds.), Politics of the Image: Between Iconolatry and Iconoclasm. Papazisis (in Greek).
Peer-Reviewed Articles
-Tsakalakis, T. (2027, provisionally accepted for publication). “The Dismal Outlook for Public Discourse in a GenAI-Inundated Disinformation Society.” Information Polity, forthcoming Special Issue titled “Disinformation after Generative AI and Synthetic Data.”
-Tsakalakis, T. (2025). “The Philosophical Significance of Douglas Adams’s Comic AI Characters.” Science Fiction Studies, 52(3), pp. 503-523.
-Tsakalakis, T., Konstantis, K. (2024) “Integrating perspectives from engineering ethics into the study of technology: A synthesis of research on critical cases.” Bioethica, 10(1), pp. 7-18.
-Tsakalakis, T. (2016). “Society of the Spectacle, of Consumerism, of Fatigue: For a Lefebvrian Critique of Contemporary Everyday Life.” Utopia, 116, pp. 115-124 (in Greek).
-Tsakalakis, T. (2013). “Beckett’s Film: A Polycentric Parodic Pictorial Parable for Perennial Paradoxes.” Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd’hui, 25, pp. 157-168.
Translations (from English to Greek)
-Tsakalakis, T. (2024). Eric Schatzberg’s Technology: Critical History of a Concept. Panepistimiakes Ekdoseis Kritis.
-Tsakalakis, T. (2020). Samuel Beckett’s Rough for Theatre II. Papazisis.
-Tsakalakis, T. (2016). Bertrand Russell’s “Why I Took to Philosophy” and “Education as Political Institution”. Plethron.
Conferences (indicative, non-exhaustive, list):
– Tsakalakis, T. “The Tragicomic Fate of ‘Radical’ Humor in this Hyperreal, Meta-Ironic, Post-Truth Era,” International Conference Humor Against Authoritarianism: Memory, Resistance, and Democracy in Europe, Athens, Greece, 2026.
– Tsakalakis, T. “Adverse and (Potentially) Beneficial Effects of Science Hype on How the Socio-Ethical Conundrums Concerning Rare Diseases Are Addressed,” 1st International Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, Spain, 2025.
– Tsakalakis, T. “Bioethical Dilemmas Concerning the Medical Research on ‘Orphan Diseases’,” 7th Panhellenic Conference of the Department of History and Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University, Athens, Greece, 2023 (in Greek).
– Tsakalakis, T. “Illustrating How the Road to Censorial Hell May Be Paved with the Purported Good Intentions of Political Correctness,” International Conference “You can teach an old dog new tricks! Old and new forms of censorship” organized by Panteion University in collaboration with the National Museum of Modern Art, Athens, Greece, 2022.
-Tsakalakis, T. “Affinities between Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities and Terry Gilliam’s Dystopian Postmodern Brazil,” INVISIBLE CITIES: An Interdisciplinary and Artistic Meeting, organized by the Department of Communication and Media Studies in collaboration with the Italian Educational Institute, Athens, Greece, 2015 (in Greek).
-Tsakalakis, T. “The Antinomy between Anti-Anthropocentrism and Tech-progressivism in Douglas Adams’s Work,” International Conference in Honor of Louis-Vincent Thomas, Mass Media and Power: Socio-Anthropological Approaches to Modern Politics, Athens, Greece, 2014 (in Greek).
-Tsakalakis, T. “Humor as a Deconstructive Tool in Beckett’s Tragicomedies,” The Ethico-Political Thought of Jacques Derrida, Athens, Greece, 2013 (in Greek).
Grants/ Fellowships/ Awards:
– Grant from private entity, namely, the former Greek Minister of Justice (and Professor Emeritus) Michael Stathopoulos, 2014-2015.
– Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund [SYLFF], Tokyo Foundation, 2004-2005.
– Award for academic excellence from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation, 1999-2003.
Teaching Experience:
-Instructor at the E-Learning Center of Continuing Education & Lifelong Learning of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (2022-present), two courses titled “Humor in Art: Stand-up, Satire, Parody, Comedy, and Tragicomedy” and “Political Correctness and Cancel Culture.”
-Adjunct lecturer/Co-instructor (2021-2022) at the Department of Communication and Media Studies, for a postgraduate course titled “Ancient Tragedy and Modern Drama.”
– Adjunct lecturer/Instructor (2013-2021) at the Department of Communication and Media Studies, for the undergraduate courses titled “Ethics, Communication, and Bioethics,” “Basic Concepts of Communication Theory,” “Cultural Dimensions in the Media,” “Issues of Modernity and Postmodernity,” as well as co-instructor for the postgraduate courses “Ancient Tragedy and Modern Drama” and “Dramatic and Cinematic Representations: From Shakespeare to Beckett.”
-Co-instructor at the Department of English Language and Literature (2004-2005), undergraduate seminar titled “How to Write Academic Essays.”