Wednesday, June 6, 2012

81st Anglo-American Conference of Historians


Ancients and Moderns
81st Anglo-American Conference of Historians

5-6 July 2012
Senate House, London
www.history.ac.uk/aach12


Ancients and Moderns is the theme of this years Anglo-American Conference, the flagship event of the Institute of Historical Research. The conference will take place on 5th and 6th July 2012 at Senate House, London.

With the Olympics upon us in the UK it seems an appropriate moment to think more broadly about the ways in which the classical world resonates in our own times, and how successive epochs of modernity since the Renaissance have situated themselves in relation to the various ancient civilisations. From political theory to aesthetics, across the arts of war and of peace, to concepts of education, family, gender, race and slavery, it is hard to think of a facet of the last millennium which has not been informed by the ancient past and through a range of media, including museums, painting, poetry, film and the built environment.

For our 81st Anglo-American conference we are joining with the Institute of Classical Studies to showcase the full extent of work on classical receptions, welcoming not only those scholars who work on Roman, Greek and Judaeo-Christian legacies and influences, but also historians of the ancient kingdoms and empires of Asia and pre-Colombian America.

Our plenary lecturers include: Paul Cartledge (Cambridge), Constanze Gthenke (Princeton), Mark Lewis (Stanford), Sanjay Subrahmanyam (UCLA) and David Womersley (Oxford).

For programme and registration details, please visit www.history.ac.uk/aach12 or contact the IHR Events Office at AncientsandModerns@lon.ac.uk or on 0207 862 8756.
                                 


Many thanks,

Sarah Mayhew
ICS 0207 862 8705

Sunday, June 3, 2012

An Introduction to Ancient Greece


mumsnet.com 


An Introduction to Ancient Greece
Start date 22-Sep-2012
Duration 2 days, 9.30am - 5pm
Location London
Price £99.00 (inc of VAT)
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Course Description 
Go back in time for two days of immersion in the extraordinary world of ancient Greece. In this course we’ll be studying many of the most important cultural and political inventions of the ancient Greeks. Spanning the archaic age of epic song, the classical era of science and reason, and globalisation of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, this course will introduce the people, places and ideas that made ancient Greece so unique.

In a series of lectures and discussion sessions we will investigate how the Greeks used myths and storytelling to analyse their own society, why the poetry of Homer shaped a millennium of Greek literature, and what Athenian democracy was all about. We’ll look at the horrors of Greek tragedy, the uproarious rudeness of Greek comedy, the values underpinning Greek athletic competitions, and the role of women throughout Greek society. We’ll also consider the ways in which this remarkable culture has influenced later writers, thinkers, and filmmakers, from Byron to Freud, from Virginia Woolf to Oliver Stone.

No previous knowledge required.

What's Included 
 Day 1
Session 1: Introduction: 1000 Years of Ancient Greeks
Session 2: Greek Myth as Art and Education
Session 3: Homer and the Origins of Greek Literature (Charlotte Higgins)
Session 4: The Invention of Reason: Philosophy, Science and Democracy

Homework: A short quiz and some extracts from ancient Greek plays, poems and novels to read for Day 2.

Day 2
Session 1: Athletic Games and Festivals: The (Greek) World's a Stage
Session 2: Tragic Women and Comic Communities: Insiders vs. Outsiders
Session 3: Hellenistic Multiculturalism
Session 4: What Happened Next? The Enduring Impact of the Ancient Greek World

Tutor Details 
 Dr Emily Pillinger studied Classics as an undergraduate at Oxford University and then went to teach and study in America for several years, gaining a Ph.D. in Classics from Princeton University in 2009. She moved back to the UK to work at Bristol University and more recently at Balliol College, Oxford. Her research focuses on unusual forms of communication in the literature of the ancient world, and she is particularly interested in the mysterious voices of prophets, witches, and ghosts from beyond the grave.

Charlotte Higgins will offer a special guest lecture. She is chief arts writer for the Guardian newspaper, graduate in Classics from Oxford University, and author of the award-winning ‘It’s All Greek to Me’

More Information 
This course will take place Saturday 22 - Sunday 23 September in London (TBC).