The Universities in Wales Institute of Classics and Ancient History (UWICAH) Annual conference is just over two weeks away, on the weekend of 19-20 November. All interested are invited to participate, either in-person at Swansea or online via Zoom.
What roles can the study of the ancient world play in a shifting social and academic landscape which no longer centres on the geopolitical priorities of the West, especially in light of the roles of many historical subdisciplines in the creation and maintenance of narratives of justification of Western domination? Given the breakdown of early ‘grand narratives’ and the welcome rise of postcolonial, postmodern, and local perspectives, it becomes clear that it is impossible for any single subdiscipline to provide meaningful synthesis that is more broadly applicable.
Emphasising multi-disciplinary and collaborative approaches and methodologies, the conference aims to be a specific contribution to wider narratives of understanding social and political relations on different geographic, spatial, and temporal levels both inside and outside of academic research.
Programme
Saturday, 19 November
9.00-9.15 Registration
9.15-9.30 Opening remarks and presentation of 2019 volume
9.30 – 11.00 Panel 1: Gender [Chair: Marika Strano]
Sexual Deviance and Metamorphosis in Greek Myth, by Alex Macfarlane, Birmingham
The Roman witch: The intersectionality of magic, ethnicity, and gender in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, by Antonia Aluko, University College London
(Re)Shaping the surface: Critical Phenomenology, Affect, and Subversion in modern interpretations of Epic poetry, by Alexandra Meghji, University College London
11.00 – 11.30 Coffee Break
11.30-13.30 Panel 2: Movement (Online presentations to the conference) [Chair: Jon Burroughs]
Animals in a foreign land: An interdisciplinary approach to understanding early interconnections between Egypt and the Levant, by Eleutério Abreu De Sousa, Macquarie University
Craftsmen as agents in Late Bronze Age Mesopotamia, by Yu Song, New York University, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
Mapping production and procurement of resin in the Eastern Mediterranean Late Bronze Age (in-person), by Catherine Bishop, University of Liverpool
13.30 – 14.30 Lunch
14.30 – 16.00 Panel 3: The landscape and the local [Chair: John Rogers]
Between the mountains and the sea: A connective approach to Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Crete, by Dominic Pollard, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
Ninety-citied Crete: Localism, alterity, and poetic authority in the Odyssey, by Frances Pickworth, University of Bristol
Athena and Trophonius: The use of religious sites in constructing Boeotia, by George Allen, University of Liverpool
c.16.00 onwards: Introduction to the Egypt Centre and Handling Session
Sunday, 20 November
10.00-11.30 Panel 4: Creating Knowledge and practising ritual (online presentations to theconference) [Chair: Olga Zapletniuk]
Constellations of Knowledge: Religion as a science in ancient Egypt, by Elizabeth Leaning, Universityof Auckland
The impact of foreign religion on Roman civic identities: Astrological power, by Joel Curzon, Cardiff University
Towards a theory of ritual in Late Bronze Age Crete: How do we discern and identify ritual actions? By Anastasia Vergaki, Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies
11.30-12.00 Coffee Break
12.00 – 13.30: Panel 5: Intra- and Inter-cultural translations [Chair: Elijah Vieira-Faria]
‘The people universally were pleased’: The reception of the Behistun inscription and Acheamenid propaganda among Yahwists, by Gad Barnea, University of Haifa
Untranslatability and the case of Ptolemaic priestly decrees, by Giulia Tonon, University of Liverpool
Pliny’s perception of North Africa: An extension of Rome or foreign lands? By Lucas Amaya, PPGLC/UFRJ, ATRIUM/UFMS, Durham University
Taking notes on the wall: The case of Verg. Aen. 2, 1, ‘conticuere omnes’, by Maria Camilla Mastriani, University of Naples Federico II / Sorbonne
13.30-14.30: Lunch
14.30 – 16.00: Panel 6: Construction and corrosion of politics [Chair: John Rogers]
On the cusp of the Hellenistic era: The Carian poleis and the satrap Asander, by Oliver Clarke, University of Oxford
Re-evaluating Seleucid Numismatic evidence: Defaced coinage and resistance in the Seleucid Empire, by Elijah Vieira-Faria, Swansea University
16.00-16.30 Coffee and closing round-table
c.17.00 Closing remarks
All are invited for dinner after the close of the conference
To register, either in-person or online, please fill out the following short form: https://forms.gle/
Further information can be found at https://projects.swan.ac.uk/
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