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2022 Comparative Literature Conference
University of South Carolina
February 10th -13th, 2022
Truth in the Late Foucault
Keynote Speakers
Sandra Boehringer (Université de Strasbourg)
Alex Dressler (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Edward McGushin (Stonehill College)
Special Event: “Foucault: A Polemical Dialogue”
David Greven (University of South Carolina) and Marc Démont (Centre College)
Call for Papers
Dear All,
Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”
Dipartimento di Studi letterari, filosofici e di storia dell’arte
EARLY MODERN AND MODERN COMMENTARIES ON VIRGIL
June 14-16, 2021
An Online Conference
Link Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81909339883
All times are CEST (Rome time).
For more information: casali@uniroma2.it
Monday, June 14, 2pm-2:20pm
Welcoming words by EMORE PAOLI (Director of the Department of Studi letterari, filosofici e di storia dell’arte, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”) and introduction by SERGIO CASALI
SESSION 1
Monday, June 14, 2:20pm-5pm
Chair: VIRGILIO COSTA (Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”)
DAVID WILSON-OKAMURA (East Carolina University)
Afterimages of Lucretius
FABIO STOK (Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”)
Commenting on Virgil in the 15th Century: from Barzizza (?) to Parrasio (?)-I
GIANCARLO ABBAMONTE (Università di Napoli Federico II)
Commenting on Virgil in the 15th Century: from Barzizza (?) to Parrasio (?)-II
NICOLA LANZARONE (Università di Salerno)
Il commento di Pomponio Leto all’Eneide: sondaggi relativi ad Aen. 1 e 2
5pm-5:20pm
Break
SESSION 2
Monday, June 14, 5:20pm-8pm
The Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities initiative, launched by the SCS in 2019 as the Classics Everywhere initiative, supports projects that seek to engage broader publics — individuals, groups, and communities — in critical discussion of and creative expression related to the ancient Mediterranean, the global reception of Greek and Roman culture, and the history of teaching and scholarship in the field of classical studies. As part of this initiative, the SCS has funded 98 projects, ranging from school programming to reading groups, prison programs, public talks and conferences, digital projects, and collaborations with artists in theater, opera, music, dance, and the visual arts. The initiative welcomes applications from all over the world. To date, it has funded projects in 25 states and 10 countries, including Canada, UK, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Ghana, Puerto Rico, Argentina and India.
Blog: Weaving Humanity Together: How Weaving Reveals Human Unity in Ancient Times
To start with, she lived a respectable life, frugal and hard;
she earned her living by weaving and spinning wool.primum haec pudice uitam parce ac duriter
agebat, lana ac tela uictum quaeritans.— Terence the African (P. Terentius Afer), The Girl from Andros, 74–75
This line drew my attention because I am an avid fiber artist. When I am not reading, teaching, and writing about Classics and its connection to Black people, I am in my wool room, lost in the magical world of fiber arts. This line from The Girl from Andros has led me on a new journey of discovering fiber arts in ancient times.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought historical epidemics into contemporary public awareness on a massive scale. Although ancient pandemics have been studied in detail since at least the 19th century, over the past year, outbreaks of the past have become apparently more relevant for what they might offer us today. Of course, the interest in historical pandemics seems to increase every time contemporary diseases draw public attention. Over the last three decades, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and Zika, among others, have made headlines, increasing interest in past diseases, even if not on the same scale as Covid. Presentist concerns, unsurprisingly, drive historical research.
This is a reminder that the AIA-SCS Future Meetings Survey is now available.
Please click here to access the survey, which should take no more than 15 minutes to complete.
The survey will remain open until May 31.
The 2022 Annual Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 5 – Saturday, January 8 in San Francisco at the Hilton Union Square, with the Parc 55 hotel serving as an overflow property. AIA and SCS signed contracts with these hotels several years prior to COVID-19, and we realize that attendees’ expectations and needs have changed since then owing to concerns about public health, accessibility, and cost. With this in mind, please take some time to fill out our survey on the 2022 meeting and on longer term planning for our conferences. The survey results will assist us in determining the optimal format and structure for our 2022 meeting and beyond.
Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop 2021: Ovid’s Little Aeneid
Dates: July 12-16, 2021
Location: Zoom link to be provided to registered participants
Text: Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.623–14.582
Moderators: Meghan Reedy (D. Phil. Oxford), Christopher Francese (Prof. of Classical Studies, Dickinson College)
Cost: $200
What use is Covid-19? Despite its epidemiological and socioeconomic consequences, can this pandemic do anything good for scholars? For Classicists? For one thing, we have seen the capacity of the virus to generate numerous themed conferences, journal volumes, and lecture series. Whether that’s a “good thing” is another matter. But, at the very least, we may say that this global pandemic renders a cluster of ideas more broadly interesting and salient than usual.
For some scholars, such events have proved fortuitous: say, for example, Kyle Harper, whose The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of and Empire appeared in late 2017 and dealt with disease and pandemic in late antiquity. Frank M. Snowden’s Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present has witnessed renewed interest. For some scholars, Classicists or not, Covid-19 has highlighted their work. No one likes to benefit from a public emergency — as a former wildland firefighter, a profession which lives for forest fires, I know the feeling — but it happens. It is outside our control.
In Dialogue: Trans Studies and Classics works to bring some of the insights and lived experiences found in transgender studies into conversation with the Classics, in the hope that bringing these into dialogue with each other will enrich our pedagogy, deepen our understanding of what gender as an identity category even means, and help critique the various ways gender has been used as an instrument of power throughout history, while also creating a more inclusive and supportive environment for our students. If you’d like to contribute to this column or have ideas that could add to this conversation, email Ky Merkley.
When the latest ‘Twitter storm’ (to quote Mary Beard) broke out, my Twitter feed rapidly filled with heated denunciations of ‘cancel culture,’ cruel words directed at trans folx, and pontifications about the state of Classics. For many members of the trans community, this Twitter ‘dialogue’ was exhausting. Every day, a new blog post or article added more fuel to an ever-growing fire.
