We are pleased to invite submissions for AnatoLinks, a PhD / early career two-day conference dedicated to the study of Ancient Anatolia through the lenses of Linguistics, Philology, History, and Archaeology, to be held at the University of Oxford on 4–5 December 2025.
The conference aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and encourage meaningful exchange between different approaches to the ancient Anatolian world. We particularly welcome joint presentations by researchers from different fields engaging with shared material or questions.
While the focus is on Ancient Anatolia, we welcome contributions that explore broader regional dynamics, including interactions with neighboring areas such as Syria, Mesopotamia, the Aegean, and the Levant.
We strongly encourage submissions from PhD candidates and early career researchers whose work explores Ancient Anatolia through innovative methodologies, comparative frameworks, or new analytical tools.
The conference will feature keynote lectures by David Sasseville (EPHE, Paris) and Giulia Torri (University of Florence)
Contributions may focus on (but need not be limited to):
-The languages of Ancient Anatolia from both a synchronic-descriptive and a historical-comparative viewpoint;
-Contacts between languages of Ancient Anatolia and other ANE languages;
-Textual, epigraphic, and philological studies;
-The scripts of Ancient Anatolia: their palaeography and the interface between orthography and phonetics or phonology;
-Applications of Narratology and Semiotics to ancient texts and material culture;
-Archaeology and material culture;
-Historical geography and landscape analysis;
-Cultural and political interactions within and beyond Anatolia;
-Social and religious memory, and continuities of practice in the longue durée;
-Methodological approaches and computational tools to fragmentary or multilingual sources.
New format feature:
Participants may indicate a preference for either a 10-minute or a 20-minute presentation slot, according to the nature and scope of their research.
The conference seeks to provide a forum for the presentation of research at all stages of development, including preliminary findings, exploratory analyses, and completed studies.
Please specify your preferred presentation length when submitting your abstract. Each session will include time for discussion, with the aim of fostering intellectual exchange and encouraging cross-disciplinary engagement.
To submit:
Please send an abstract (max. 500 words, excluding references), along with your name and affiliation, to [email protected] by 1 October 2025. Notification of acceptance will be sent by 10 October 2025. Chosen applicants will be asked to provide some small amount of material for a booklet in advance of the conference, to be distributed to attendees.
We look forward to your contributions and to launching the AnatoLinks initiative with you in Oxford!
For any inquiries, including those related to attendance support, please contact: [email protected]
Organizing Committee
Emanuele Alleva (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice), Giulia Cozzi, (University of Pavia), Sveva Elti di Rodeano (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice), Romeo Gessaga (University of Oxford), Gabriele Giannecchini (University of Oxford), Olga Olina (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Jonathan Walls (University of Oxford), Leopoldo Fox-Zampiccoli (ISAW – NYU)
