George Kourvetaris, professor of sociology, will present “The Influence of Ancient Greece on the American Founding Fathers,” the third part of his Paideia Project, Sunday.

The video is written by Carl Richard, professor of intellectual and cultural history of ancient Greece and Rome at the University of Lafayette. The script is based on Richard’s book titled, “The Founders and the Classics,” which was published by Harvard University Press and presented with an award by the American Historical society.

The film, produced by Kourvetaris with about $14,000 in donations, concentrates on ancient Greece, known as the Golden Age of Pericles, Kourvetaris said. The educational video focuses on how various Greek authors shaped the minds and thoughts of the American founders, Kourvetaris said.

The Paideia Project is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2002 by Kourvetaris that produces videos and DVDs on the “assimilation of various aspects of Greek culture.”

“Paideia” is a Greek word meaning ‘learning and education,’” Kourvetaris said.

“In the Paideia videos, Kourvetaris is trying to illustrate the contributions of ancient Greek thought and values to modern society, particularly in such areas of influence as our democratic principles, our concepts of war and peace and our family/gender relations,” said Kay Forest, associate professor and chair of the sociology department.

“The original ideas and principles in various subjects such as mathematics, literature, philosophy and more came from the Greeks,” Kourvetaris said. “These ideas later were adapted by the Romans and disseminated all over the world and then to America. The British and other Europeans that came here, including the fathers, adapted many of these ideas, and that’s the idea of the video.”

The first video of the Paideia Project, “The Structure of the Athenian Polis and the Birth of the First Democracy in the West,” was presented in 2003. The second video, “The Origin of Freedom in Ancient Greece,” was written and produced by Kourvetaris and presented in 2004.

The third dinner and reception of the Paideia Project will take place Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Fountain Blue, Banquets and Conference Center, 2300 S. Mannheim Road in Des Plaines.

The event is open to all and will include the presentation of the third video, a Greek dance group, an open bar and dinner. The last day to purchase tickets is Thursday. Ticket prices are $60 per ticket with a discounted student price of $45 per ticket. To purchase tickets, call George Kourvetaris at 758-4088.