Call for Papers—Penn-Leiden Colloquium V: VALUING OTHERS
The "Penn-Leiden Colloquia on Ancient Values" was established as a
biennial venue for investigating the diverse aspects of Greek and
Roman values. Each colloquium focuses on a single theme, which
participants explore from a diversity of perspectives and
disciplines. So far, three volumes have appeared, exploring a
personal value, a community value, and the spatial mapping of values
respectively: Andreia. Studies in Manliness and Courage in Classical
Antiquity, Leiden 2003, Free Speech in Classical, Leiden 2004, City,
Countryside, and the Spatial Organization of Value in Classical
Antiquity, Leiden 2006. A fourth volume, on “badness and anti-values”
is in preparation.
The topic of the fifth colloquium, to be held at the University of
Leiden, the Netherlands, June 6-8, 2008, will be:
VALUING OTHERS IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY
In classical antiquity, a variety of value terms articulate the idea
that people ‘belong together’ or ‘relate to each other’ as a family,
a group, a polis, a community, parts of the cosmos, or just as
individual fellow human beings. Which values were thought relevant in
this connection? How do these different conceptualizations function?
What contexts do they belong in, what contexts do they create? And
what effects do they generate, i.e. how do ideas about what we might
call ‘fellow-feeling’, ‘empathy’, ‘humanity’, ‘unity’ and
‘citizenship’ work in Antiquity to make a group a group or to make
people ‘do the right thing by each other’?
In this colloquium, our point of departure will not be any one
specific value, designated by just one Greek or Roman term. Rather,
we will explore the different values, with their different
perspectives, that ancient society found useful in thinking about
belonging together, social cohesion and unity. Ancient terms that
come to mind are, e.g., philanthrôpia, compounds with homo-, such as
homoiotropos, homonoia, homophuloi (and other kinship terms);
oikeiosis, philia, sungeneia, koinon, koinonia, sumpatheia,
communitas, and humanitas or – from the negative side -- the (anti-)-
values that produce stasis.
The question of ‘valuing others’, ‘belonging together’, ‘social
cohesion’ is a highly relevant one in our contemporary society, in
which the ‘integration’, ‘adaptation’, ‘assimilation’ and
‘participation’ of minority groups is a contested issue. What values
are used to articulate what binds together our multicultural society?
Or is that notion defunct?
For this fifth colloquium, therefore, we invite abstracts for papers
(30 minutes) on all aspects of our proposed topic.
Selected papers will be considered for publication by Brill
Publishers. Those interested in presenting a paper are requested to
submit a 1-page abstract, by email (preferable) or regular mail,
before October 1st, 2007.
Contact (please copy both with email correspondence):
Professor Ineke Sluiter
Classics Department
University of Leiden
Doelensteeg 16, Johan Huizinga-building
POB 9515
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands
Email: i.sluiter AT let.leidenuniv.nl
Phone: +31 (71) 527 3311
Professor Ralph M. Rosen
Department of Classical Studies
University of Pennsylvania
202 Logan Hall
Philadelphia PA 19104-6304
USA
Email: rrosen AT sas.upenn.edu
Phone: +1 (215) 898 7425
The "Penn-Leiden Colloquia on Ancient Values" was established as a
biennial venue for investigating the diverse aspects of Greek and
Roman values. Each colloquium focuses on a single theme, which
participants explore from a diversity of perspectives and
disciplines. So far, three volumes have appeared, exploring a
personal value, a community value, and the spatial mapping of values
respectively: Andreia. Studies in Manliness and Courage in Classical
Antiquity, Leiden 2003, Free Speech in Classical, Leiden 2004, City,
Countryside, and the Spatial Organization of Value in Classical
Antiquity, Leiden 2006. A fourth volume, on “badness and anti-values”
is in preparation.
The topic of the fifth colloquium, to be held at the University of
Leiden, the Netherlands, June 6-8, 2008, will be:
VALUING OTHERS IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY
In classical antiquity, a variety of value terms articulate the idea
that people ‘belong together’ or ‘relate to each other’ as a family,
a group, a polis, a community, parts of the cosmos, or just as
individual fellow human beings. Which values were thought relevant in
this connection? How do these different conceptualizations function?
What contexts do they belong in, what contexts do they create? And
what effects do they generate, i.e. how do ideas about what we might
call ‘fellow-feeling’, ‘empathy’, ‘humanity’, ‘unity’ and
‘citizenship’ work in Antiquity to make a group a group or to make
people ‘do the right thing by each other’?
In this colloquium, our point of departure will not be any one
specific value, designated by just one Greek or Roman term. Rather,
we will explore the different values, with their different
perspectives, that ancient society found useful in thinking about
belonging together, social cohesion and unity. Ancient terms that
come to mind are, e.g., philanthrôpia, compounds with homo-, such as
homoiotropos, homonoia, homophuloi (and other kinship terms);
oikeiosis, philia, sungeneia, koinon, koinonia, sumpatheia,
communitas, and humanitas or – from the negative side -- the (anti-)-
values that produce stasis.
The question of ‘valuing others’, ‘belonging together’, ‘social
cohesion’ is a highly relevant one in our contemporary society, in
which the ‘integration’, ‘adaptation’, ‘assimilation’ and
‘participation’ of minority groups is a contested issue. What values
are used to articulate what binds together our multicultural society?
Or is that notion defunct?
For this fifth colloquium, therefore, we invite abstracts for papers
(30 minutes) on all aspects of our proposed topic.
Selected papers will be considered for publication by Brill
Publishers. Those interested in presenting a paper are requested to
submit a 1-page abstract, by email (preferable) or regular mail,
before October 1st, 2007.
Contact (please copy both with email correspondence):
Professor Ineke Sluiter
Classics Department
University of Leiden
Doelensteeg 16, Johan Huizinga-building
POB 9515
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands
Email: i.sluiter AT let.leidenuniv.nl
Phone: +31 (71) 527 3311
Professor Ralph M. Rosen
Department of Classical Studies
University of Pennsylvania
202 Logan Hall
Philadelphia PA 19104-6304
USA
Email: rrosen AT sas.upenn.edu
Phone: +1 (215) 898 7425