Category Archives: General

Call for Proposals: CAAS 2024 Annual Meeting

Featured

Posted on by

The Classical Association of the Atlantic States 2024 Annual Meeting
Dates: October 17-19, 2024
Venue: The Heldrich Hotel & Conference Center, New Brunswick, NJ

Deadline for all proposals: Friday, February 16, 2024 (11:59 p.m ET)

Click here to view/download CFP (PDF format)

We invite proposals for individual papers, panels, and workshops/roundtables on all aspects of the ancient world and its afterlife. Especially welcome are submissions that propose groundbreaking approaches to established scholarly debates on classical antiquity; that aim at maximum audience participation and integrate the interests of K-12 and college faculty; that explore new strategies and resources for improved and inclusive teaching; that share fresh ideas about communicating the importance of ancient Greece and Rome beyond our discipline and profession; that explore connections between the Greco-Roman world and other ancient civilizations; and that reflect on the past, present, and future of Classical Studies in the CAAS region and beyond.

SUBMISSION DETAILS

Eligibility to submit a proposal:  All submitters must be members of CAAS when they submit their proposal.  The CAAS membership year is January 1-December 31.  Organizers of panels and workshops must verify participants’ membership status before submitting the proposal.  Undergraduate students making an individual submission must ensure their mentors have paid the CAAS membership fee for 2024 before making a submission.  

Single appearance policy:  Each submitter must not submit more than one abstract (whether single- or co-authored).  Authors of individual paper proposals cannot simultaneously submit an abstract as part of a panel or workshop proposal.  Panel and workshop organizers should ensure that participants in their proposed sessions do not intend to appear anywhere else on the program as speakers.   

Individual Paper Proposals must be drafted for a presentation of 15 minutes in length.  When the Program is finalized, additional time may be granted depending on the number of papers included in each session.  Abstracts of circa (but no more than) 300 words must be uploaded as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file and:

  1. Include a clear thesis and state the paper’s original contribution(s) by situating it in a larger scholarly context.  The Program Committee expects to see this at the outset of the abstract.
  2. Be accompanied by a bibliography of five items (not included in the word limit).  The expectation of the Program Committee is that submitters weave these references into the narrative (using parenthetical citations) to build the argument, rather than just listing them at the end.  A couple of major/recent publications (depending on the topic of the presentation) should feature in the bibliography.  Pedagogy abstracts may reference innovative teaching approaches in progress explored by the submitter(s) and/or other educators. 
  3. Be anonymous. The author’s name should not appear anywhere in the submission.  References to the author’s own publications or pedagogical techniques should be done in the third person.  Abstracts that include the names of authors and/or their institutional affiliations will be rejected automatically.   

If you are an undergraduate student, please first select “Individual” under Type of Submission and then “Undergraduate Paper.” 

Panel Proposals must be drafted for a session of either 2 hours in length (3 speakers) or 2 ½ hours (4 speakers).  A respondent may be included in the latter category as a fifth speaker.  Especially welcome are proposals that seek to showcase the research of (under)graduate students of a department in the CAAS region and beyond and include at least one paper to be read by a faculty member who serves as advisor.  Proposals must be submitted by the organizer(s) as a single Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file and include:  

  1. The title of the panel and titles of each individual presentation.
  2. An introductory paragraph that establishes the coherence of the panel as a whole and indicates its original contribution, situating the panel in a larger scholarly context.
  3. Abstracts of the individual presentations. The limit for the proposal as a whole is 1,000 words.
  4. A bibliography of five items (not included in the word limit) following each of the abstracts.  The expectation of the Program Committee is that authors weave these references into the narrative (using parenthetical citations) to build the argument, rather than just listing them at the end of their abstract.  A couple of major/recent publications (depending on the topic of the panel) should feature in the bibliography.  Pedagogy proposals may reference innovative teaching approaches in progress explored by the submitter(s) and/or other educators. 
  5. Beanonymous.  The names of those involved in the proposal — organizer(s), presenters, and respondent (if any) — must not appear anywhere in the submission except when citing their own publications or pedagogical methods, which must be done in the third person.  Abstracts including the names and/or institutional affiliations of the organizer(s), presenters, and respondent will be rejected automatically. 

Workshops/roundtables are typically allocated 2 hours and expected to be devoted, for their most part, to a discussion between the organizer(s)/presenter(s) and the audience.  Presentations, if any, must, therefore, be shorter than those included in organized panels.  All the above guidelines for panels apply to workshop/roundtable proposals except that the limit for the submission as a whole is 700 words, excluding bibliographical references.

Submission of an abstract is a commitment to present the paper in person.  If a paper must be read in absentia due to extenuating circumstances, the author must inform both the presiders and the Program Coordinator, Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos, as soon as they can, and arrange for a reader to read the paper on their behalf.  The author must also register for the Annual Meeting in the respective category (faculty or student).  Mentors of undergraduate students are expected to attend in person.  If this is not possible due to extenuating circumstances, they still must register in order for their name to feature in the final draft of the Program.

All authors will be notified about the status of their submission by/in mid-May 2024.  If the submission is accepted for presentation, all speakers and organizers must register online through Johns Hopkins University Press by September 23, 2024.  After that date, registration is available at the hotel only and at a higher cost.  Authors of individual papers are expected to send a draft of their presentation and a copy of their handout or PowerPoint to their presiders by/on Monday, October 7, 2024. 

All submitters are advised to read the CAAS Anti-Racism Committee statement on condemning the use of the texts, ideals, and images of the Greek and Roman world to promote hateful ideology.

Submit here: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=caas2024

For academic questions, please contact CAAS Program Coordinator Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos (knikolou@sju.edu).  Please contact Webmaster Jennifer Ranck (webmaster@caas-cw.org) with technical questions regarding submission through EasyChair.

CAAS Conference Travel Subsidies:  CAAS offers need-based travel subsidies (up to $600) to speakers and members planning to attend the Annual Meeting.  The call for applications will be announced by the Chair of the Program Committee Travel Subsidies Subcommittee in late Spring 2024, after the circulation of the first draft of the Program by the Program Coordinator.  

CAAS Presentation Awards:  In accordance with the Board’s decision at the April 2023 meeting, CAAS recognizes the excellence of papers delivered in person at the annual meeting by means of monetary awards in four categories: Post-Ph.D.; Graduate Student; Undergraduate Student; and K-12 Educator.  Presiders who will receive advance copies of papers to be read in their sessions will nominate outstanding individual presentations after the annual meeting, submitting detailed commentary on oral delivery.  Members of the Awards Subcommittee and/or members of the Program Committee with expertise in the subject will nominate outstanding presenters at organized panels refereed by the Program Committee.  The Chair of the Program Committee Awards Subcommittee will announce recipients of awards before December 31.

Penn Public Lectures on Classical Antiquity and the Contemporary World

Posted on by

The Penn Department of Classical Studies announces the following lectures in the ongoing series of “Penn Public Lectures on Classical Antiquity and the Contemporary World”:

Elena Isayev (Univerity of Exeter) will be speaking on “People Out of Place: Mediating Sovereignty and Power, Past and Present”

  • November 2, 5:00 PM EDT: “Who is the Host? Asylum Requests, Sovereignty and Recognition in the Polis of Greek Tragedy and Among Nations Today”
  • November 7, 5:00 PM EST: “The Exile as Weapon:  Moving People to Challenge Autonomy and Exert Authority – Hellenistic Decrees and Televised Push-backs”
  • November 9, 5:00 PM EST : “Non-Return and Non-Arrival: Interdependence through Exclusion, Captivity and Incomplete Restitution”

Register for in-person or online attendance at https://www.classics.upenn.edu/events/penn-public-lectures

In Memoriam: Daniel P. Tompkins

Posted on by

Submitted by Robin Mitchell-Boyask, Professor and Chair, Department of Greek and Roman Classics, Temple University

Daniel P. Tompkins passed away on Saturday, June 10th, following a long illness. Dan was born in New York, NY and raised in Montclair, NJ. 

Dan received his BA from Dartmouth College in 1962. After completing his doctorate at Yale University in 1968, where Adam Parry in particular was a great influence, he taught first at Wesleyan University (1965–1973) and then Swarthmore College (1974–1976), before finally landing at Temple University. In between Wesleyan and Swarthmore, he was a fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C.

Temple’s small Classics department had disappeared in the early 1970s when its faculty departed in a burst of mid-career changes, but then, after a hiatus, faculty in other departments asked Temple’s administration for its return. Dan was hired to resurrect the discipline here from scratch. While this was certainly no small task, Dan, with a legendarily wide-ranging intellect and boundless energy, was ideally suited to this project. His gentle humility and warm, optimistic humanity generated both respect in and affection from others. Dan’s first hire, in 1978, was Martha Davis, and together they forged a student-centered culture that persists to this day. While Dan retired from teaching in 2010, his intellectual DNA has proven remarkably durable in the department.

His magnanimity touched many, as Associate Professor Karen Hersch recalls:

His generosity and goodness to us truly knew no bounds. Some recent kindnesses to us here at Temple: In 2021 and 2022, he graciously agreed to speak as part of our panels on diversity and justice, “Teaching Race in the Ancient Mediterranean at Temple.” I saw him last in person at our winter holiday party, and he was profoundly grateful to be there–suffused with light is an understatement—and all he could talk about was how amazed he was to see such happy, excited and involved students. I was delighted that he continued to write me to share wonderful musings and citations, and I was humbled that he would ask me questions. His last email to me was typical of him, quintessential Dan: he sent me congratulations on our Carleton-Temple conference on women, and added that he wished he had more time with my younger colleagues. We will cherish those words.

Dan’s affable curiosity and concern for his students also made him an outstanding teacher. He was recognized for this work twice: first, with the Excellence in Teaching Award from the American Philological Association in 1980, and, second, with Temple University’s Great Teacher Award in 2009.

Dan wore many different hats at Temple, especially during the latter part of his career when the department’s growth allowed him to spread his wings a bit. He was one of the founders of Temple’s core humanities program, Intellectual Heritage, and served as its director twice (1980–1983, 2000–2005). In between, his passion for student learning led him to the Provost’s office, where he worked as Faculty Fellow for Learning Communities (1993–2000), while also serving on important committees, often chairing them.

The burden of this important work meant that Dan usually did not have enough time for his own research. That said, what he did manage to complete is generally still considered to be significant, especially his work on Thucydides, which is still cited regularly (e.g. “Stylistic Characterization in Thucydides: Nicias and Alcibiades,” Yale Classical Studies: Studies in Fifth Century Thought and Literature, ed. Adam Parry, 22 [1972], pp. 181–214”). After retiring from teaching, Dan pursued his passionate interest in the work of Moses Finley and his intellectual circle, about which he had earlier already published (“The World of Moses Finkelstein: The Year 1939 in M.I. Finley’s Development as a Historian,” Chapter in Michael Meckler, ed., Classical Antiquity and the Politics Of America. Baylor State University Press, 2006. Pp. 95–126). His keen interest in pedagogy and work on learning communities also led to a half-dozen related articles.

Dan had an astonishing range of interests and was capable of enthusiastic and insightful discussion about everything from Wallace Stevens to Thucydides to the Philadelphia Eagles. Many people, both at Temple and around the world, regularly woke up to find a long e-mail message from Dan composed at some odd hour during the night when he had become excited after reading an article about a subject that you had no idea was an concern of his. Such messages persisted to the end of his life.

He is survived by his wife Drew Humphries, his sister Tory Byrne, his daughter Tory Tompkins, and his grandson Tristan. 

Daniel Tompkins was a remarkable intellect, a terrific teacher, a tremendous colleague, and, most importantly, a great human being. May his memory be a blessing. 

Remembering Dan Tompkins, by Martha Davis, Associate Professor Emerita 

Most persons hearing about the death of Dan Tompkins will immediately regret the loss of continued research by him into the work of Thucydides and Finley. He was the expert par excellence in that. But his inquisitive mind ranged over a much wider territory, both of the ancient world and our modern one. He had a prodigious memory and read constantly, so his command of knowledge broadened continuously.

I remember his mastery of the field of Classics, but also his willingness to share what he knew. He answered my questions many times—patiently¬–and often brought me articles and information he knew I would be interested in. His comments for the listserv Classics-L were perceptive and could provoke lively discussion.

Dan was a good colleague and an outstanding chair of the department he founded. He never shrank from administrative duties and service to the university far beyond our department level. His many honors were well deserved. He pioneered in the development of the Freshman Interdisciplinary Studies Program and was almost solely responsible for creating and maintaining the Intellectual Heritage Program, both of which introduced beginning students to basic knowledge necessary for success in any major. 

From a personal standpoint, I thank him first of all that I was hired. He worked to see me through tenure, and I owe him much in the consideration of my own career. He thought it fun that our birthdays were very close together and did not forget to mark the days. The spoon rest on my kitchen counter in the shape of a fish was a small gift from him, one that reminds me daily of his thoughtfulness. He helped me move household—twice. Most of all, he cheered me up. Though I groaned loudly at his awful puns, they punctuated even the dreariest days with humor. The smell of his French press coffee still drifts through my memory of the department.

My own sorrow is great, so it is difficult even to imagine how his death has affected Drew and Tory and the rest of his family. Friends and acquaintances will miss him, and those who knew him only by his work will sense that an important voice is stilled. When we celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the Department of Greek and Roman Classics, we presented Dan with a medal. The inscription remains appropriate to this day for those who worked with him: Sine quo non.

The 2023 Fall Annual Meeting of The Classical Association of the Atlantic States

Featured

Posted on by

When: Thursday, October 5 to Saturday, October 7

Where:  The Inn at Penn, Philadelphia, PA

Program: Click here to read/download the final version of the Program (updated October 20, 2023)

Letter from CAAS President: Click here to view/download the Letter from the CAAS President

Letter from CAAS Executive Director: Click here to view/download the Letter from the CAAS Executive Director

Election/Ballot Form: Voting deadline has passed.

Exhibitors and Vendors:  Meeting has ended.

Fall 2023 Registration Form (register online): Meeting has ended.

Reservations link for the Inn at Penn: Meeting has ended.

Travel Subsidy Program Application: Submissions are now closed for 2023.

We look forward to seeing you there!

CFP: Antiquity in Media Studies (AIMS): 2022 International Online Conference – submission deadline 9/15

Posted on by

Antiquity in Media Studies (AIMS)  2022 International Online Conference

The Kaleidoscope of Antiquity: Shifting Perspectives on the Ancient Mediterranean World and Its Modern Receptions 

Regular conference days: December 1-2 & 9-10 (Americas, UK, EU) / December 2-3 & 10-11 (Australasia) with special events: December 3-8 (Americas, UK, EU) / December 4-9 (Australasia)

Each year’s new wave of receptions of Mediterranean antiquity in global media reinforces how influential this deep past remains in popular imaginations around the world. Despite the many “other worlds” in which narratives may be set, and the shrinking footprint of ancient Mediterranean studies in most educational institutions, this past continues to fire the imagination of creators, comfort the balance sheets of companies, and draw audiences in droves. 

And yet, these receptions of Mediterranean antiquity may not carry the same meanings or associations for all participants, including where individuals’ responses may be informed by various aspects of identity. Like an image in a kaleidoscope, both the antiquity that one sees, and the agency of the viewer in creating that image, change depending on how one twists the scope. There is value in multi-faceted antiquities, as well as in the multifaceted perspectives for viewing them. And yet, if perspectives on antiquity as a historical entity, and the meanings of antiquity in modernity, are kaleidoscopic, inquiries into the meanings of these perspectives are complicated by varying degrees of interest in factuality, complicating how scholars might conceive of the future of informed knowledge about antiquity and its reception as a cultural force in contemporary societies around the world. 

For this year’s annual meeting, AIMS welcomes submissions that explore the kaleidoscopic nature of antiquity and its receptions in a wide variety of media and various proposed formats that can fit within a 60-90 minute time slot and be delivered remotely at this online conference. For further details on media and presentation formats, links to guiding questions for formulating proposals, instructions on how to submit proposals, and information on the structure of this year’s conference, please visit https://antiquityinmediastudies.wordpress.com/call-for-papers/ . AIMS is committed to creating an environment that supports participants of diverse backgrounds and perspectives, and we encourage submissions from scholars from underrepresented backgrounds. Submissions are due by Thursday, September 15. 

Questions? Please contact AIMS President Meredith Safran at <presidentaims@antiquityinmediastudies.org>.