International Conference: The “Future of the Past”: Why Classical Studies still matter (23-26/11/22)

It is more or less a truism to argue that ancient Greek and Roman antiquity have shaped our worldview and influenced the ways in which contemporary life and values are understood and constantly (re)interpreted. The imprint of the Greco-Roman past is evident in many aspects and features of our culture: the sciences and arts, linguistic forms, literary expressions, religion, morality and ethics, philosophical thinking, political theory and practice, and the ways we think about and understand history and humanism. In a nutshell, the Greco-Roman past decisively affects the ways in which we, moderns, despite ethnic or cultural differences, understand ourselves. There are, however, those, both outside and within the confines of Classical Studies, who wonder whether it is worth investing time, effort, and resources in studying the past.

This conference, the result of collaboration between the Academy of Athens and the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, aims to address the important question of the relevance of Classical Studies today: do they still matter, and to whom? Some of the most influential scholars of ancient Greece and Rome will come together at the Academy of Athens to discuss a wide range of issues that highlight the modernity of the past and help us better and more fully understand the position of Classical Studies in the 21^st century, the challenges, and the prospects. Among the topics brought under examination by the contributors are: 1. the history of the field of Classical Studies from antiquity to modern times; 2. patterns of politics and socio-culture; 3. the cultural importance of monuments and artifacts; 4. language and linguistics; 5. education (addressing the debate over how academic units and programs could be restructured to include both traditional and innovative approaches to philology and ancient civilizations); 6. matters of interdisciplinarity and intertextuality; and 7. aspects of modernity (including digitalization and the use of new technologies in teaching and researching the past).

Conference organizers

• Antonios Rengakos (Academy of Athens & Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
• Theodoros Papanghelis (Academy of Athens & Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
• Georgios K. Giannakis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki & Centre for the Greek Language)

Inquiries about the conference should be addressed to Andreas Serafim, Researcher at the Academy of Athens, aserafeim@academyofathens.gr.

Conference delegates

• Alexandra Lianeri (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
• Bernhard Zimmermann (University of Freiburg/Heidelberger Akademie)
• Brian D. Joseph (Ohio State University)
• Brooke Holmes (Princeton University)
• Constanze Güthenke (University of Oxford)
• Daniel Mendelsohn (Princeton University)
• Douglas Cairns (University of Edinburgh)
• Edith Hall (Durham University)
• Emilio Crespo (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
• Evina Sistakou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
• Filippomaria Pontani (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)
• Florian Steger (Ulm University/Heidelberger Akademie)
• Franco Montanari (University of Genoa)
• Hans-Joachim Gehrke (German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina/Heidelberger Akademie)
• Ioanna Karamanou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
• Jacqueline Fabre-Serris (Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III)
• James Porter (University of California, Berkeley)
• Jenny Strauss Clay (University of Virginia)
• Johanna Hanink (Brown University)
• Jonas Grethlein (Heidelberg University/Heidelberger Akademie)
• Joshua T. Katz (American Enterprise Institute)
• Josiah Ober (Stanford University)
• Juergen Paul Schwindt (Heidelberg University)
• Lucia Athanassaki (University of Crete)
• Margalit Finkelberg (Tel Aviv University)
• Mary Lefkowitz (Wellesley College)
• Nuccio Ordine (University of Calabria)
• Paul Cartledge (University of Cambridge)
• Richard Hunter (University of Cambridge)
• Richard Janko (University of Michigan)
• Roderick Beaton (King’s College London/British School at Athens)
• Simon Goldhill (University of Cambridge)
• Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
• Sophia Xenophontos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
• Therese Fuhrer (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)
• Tim Whitmarsh (University of Cambridge)
• Tonio Hölscher (Heidelberg University/Heidelberger Akademie)