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Call for Papers
Saturday, February 18, 2023
University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)

Sixth University of Florida Classics Graduate Student Symposium

Movement and Mobility in Ancient Spheres
Mobility and movement, which lie at the core of the human experience in both ancient and modern societies, hold a critical place in the study of the ancient Greco-Roman world. From Herodotus’ wanderings around the Persian Empire to Pausanias’ Periegesis and Lucian’s fantastic travels, Greco- Roman literature captures the intertemporal need and desire of individuals and groups of people to move and travel from one place to another. We can wonder, for instance, at Odysseus’s journey across the Mediterranean, Aeneas’ Underworld katabasis, or Trimalchio’s social advancement while recognizing the multiple considerations of movement in these narratives and at the same time reflect on what sort of mobility allows for these stories to be transmitted to us over millennia.

Did the ancients think about movement in the same way we do? How were travelers and exiles perceived in the ancient world? How did the movement of people and concepts in antiquity affect the emergence of new institutions and ideas? How do modern scholars approach topics of mobility like transportation, migration, or colonization in the ancient world? Such questions are critical to better understanding how people and societies communicate and define themselves from antiquity to modernity. Thus, we seek to answer these questions and more as we invite submissions that delve into topics surrounding movement and mobility in both the ancient and modern world from a variety of perspectives.

We invite papers that explore the concepts of movement and mobility – broadly understood – in relation to the societies of the ancient world or their modern reception and study. Papers which approach the topic through the practical lens of education or that consider pressing current issues like the environment, gender and sexuality, immigration, or economic disparity are also welcome. Though our field of focus is the cultures and peoples of the ancient Mediterranean, we welcome and encourage papers discussing any ancient world culture and its reception. 
  
Topics may include but are not limited to:   
  
 The topos of the journey (e.g., nostos, katabasis, expedition, etc.) in Greco-Roman literature and its reception.
 Immigration, colonization, and trade in the Ancient Mediterranean world.
 Ethnographic and/or anthropological perspectives of movement and mobility in the ancient Mediterranean world or in modern classical reception and scholarship.
 Artistic and literary depictions and understandings of movement and mobility in the ancient Mediterranean world.
 The transmission and narratology of Classics in world literature.
 The mobility of classical scholarship over time and across fields of discipline.

Please submit an anonymized abstract by October 3, 2022, by emailing a .docx attachment to
gradsymposium@classics.ufl.edu
. The word limit is 250, not including the bibliography. Please include your name, affiliation, and the title of your abstract in the body of your email. Final papers should be no longer than 20 minutes. The Symposium is an in-person event, and we invite all participants to travel to Gainesville. However, with the understanding that travel can be an issue for a variety of reasons, we will offer a hybrid platform for participants to deliver their papers and participate further in the Symposium via Zoom. Selected proceedings completed via a double-blind peer review process will be published by the UF (University of Florida) Smathers Libraries Press.  
  
Any questions should be addressed to gradsymposium@classics.ufl.edu, and you can learn more about the Symposium and the Selected Proceedings on the UFCGS 6 website.