PETITION TO MAINTAIN THE STATUS OF LATIN AND ANCIENT GREEK IN FRENCH SCHOOLS

Six major associations concerned with the educational system in France, including the Association des Professeurs de Français et Langues Anciennes and the Association des Professeurs de Lettres, have drawn up a petition regarding the field of ancient languages and cultures in French schools.

To this day, the French government regards Latin and Ancient Greek as subjects of high priority. Amongst other factors, the educational system thus contributes to the fact that more than 520,000 pupils are currently studying either Latin or Ancient Greek.

In 2016, however, the French government plans on modifying the rules for all schools in a way that would lower the status of the subjects and make them face considerably more competition. This would probably lead to a massive loss of pupils studying the languages and their historical importance.

Please consider signing the petition in order to save the current status of the ancient cultures in France. Follow the link to read and sign the full petition.

OUR THOUGHTS GO OUT TO THE VICTIMS´ FAMILIES

Wednesday´s deadly attack on innocent people at the Bardo museum in Tunis has shocked and disturbed all of us. The members of FIEC, on the behalf of the classicist associations all over the world, would like to express their heartfelt condolences to all the victims and mourners of this horrible act of cruelty. Our genuine sympathy lies with all the families that have lost loved ones as well as with all those associated with the Bardo museum.

In remembrance of the people who were killed and injured during the attack, we also feel the need to voice our concern about cultural artefacts which are being endangered by conflicts in the Middle East and in Africa. Unfortunately, the famous Tunisian museum that displays, amongst other treasures, one of the world´s largest collections of Roman mosaics is only one of too many cultural heritage sites that have been threatened, damaged, or destroyed during a period of only a few years.

We feel that, in addition to saving lives and averting humanitarian crises, it is the duty both of international leaders and of the general public to adopt all necessary measures in order to preserve our cultural heritage. It is unacceptable for any person, group, or organization to annihilate irreplaceable artefacts of human and natural history. It is also unacceptable to deliberately put any of such relics at risk in the pursuit of ideological ends.

We encourage not only the Bardo museum but all institutions contributing to the world´s cultural richness to steel themselves against any kind of intimidation and to keep up their good work. We have to stand together in order to preserve what is essential to all of us.

It is, of course, on a note of sincerest condolences that we end this mournful address to our readers. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN LA PLATA: “[A] New Insight into Ancient Greek Culture at the Beginning of the Third Millennium: Perspectives and Challenges”

Today´s news contains two pieces of information. Firstly, we would like to announce to you the Seventh International Colloquium held by the Centre for Hellenistic Studies at the National University of La Plata, Argentina. The conference, called “[A] New Insight into Ancient Greek Culture at the Beginning of the Third Millennium: Perspectives and Challenges”, will be held from the 23^rd to the 26^th of June 2015. Abstracts should be submitted until the 30^th of March. Read the following text for all the relevant information:

The Seventh International Colloquium “[A] New Insight into Ancient Greek Culture at the Beginning of the Third Millennium: Perspectives and Challenges", organized by the Centro de Estudios Helénicos, Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, will be held in La Plata, Argentina, from 23rd to 26th June 2015.

The Colloquium attempts to return to the topic of its first meeting, in 1997, entitled “[A] new insight into ancient Greek culture at the end of the millennium”. The growing success in the last twenty years of these academic meetings, designed to reflecting, discussing and assessing the role of classics within philological, literary, historical, philosophical and cultural studies in general, has prompted us to go back to the start to reflect once more on the challenges and perspectives that our research field maintains in a millennium that, after more than a decade, is still focused on humanity.

The Colloquium allows three ways of participation:

1) Conference panels and round-table discussions focusing on subjects of interest chosen from several areas of the Greco-Roman culture. Well-known scholars both from our country and overseas will be the guest speakers.

The conference panels and round-tables aim at the discussion of some central issues in the study of Classical thought. They will be followed by a general debate in which every participant is encouraged to take part.

2) Papers. Should you be interested in presenting a paper, please send a 300-word abstract by email by 30th March 2015, to be evaluated by the Scientific Committee. A printed copy plus CD version of a 20-minute paper will take place upon arrival to the Colloquium (max. 8 pages including bibliography, A4, Times New Roman 12, 1.5 space, Greek font, UNICODE).

Students wishing to present a paper should do so with the support of a scholar, preferably their supervisor, whose name, position and Email address must be included in their abstracts.

3) Short Courses, Those interested in giving a short course should send their proposal by 30th March 2015, including proposed title of the course, support statement, aims, topics to be addressed during the course (in two sessions of three hours each) and bibliography.

Papers’ and Courses’ sessions are open to all those interested in sharing their current research. Papers and Courses are expected to focus on Classical Languages, Genres, Rhetoric, Epic, Tragedy, Comedy, Lyric, Ancient Philosophy, Ancient History, Cultural Studies, Classical Reception and Classical Archaeology, just to mention some of the possible topics. The proposed theme of the Colloquium is not exclusive.

Certificates:

Participants will receive a certificate stating their participation in the Colloquium plus a certificate of attendance for a training course of 30 hours. Those who read a paper or give a short course will receive a further certificate. Those attending short courses will receive a certificate of a 6 hour course.

All Papers given at the Conference will be published in CD format and/or on the web. A special volume, Proceedings of the Seventh International Colloquium, will be published in paperback including all the conference panels and round-tables.

In order to register for the Colloquium, please complete and return the Registration Form attached to this Circular Letter, together with the abstract of your paper or your proposal for a short course. [Please make use of the contact information below to receive a Registration Form]

Registration Fee:

Participants attending or giving a paper:

Before 30th March 2015: $740 Argentinean Pesos (AADEC member: $600 AP)

After 30th March 2015: $850 Argentinean Pesos (AADEC member: $700 AP)

Students

UNLP Undergraduate students will have free attendance to the Colloquium.

Undergraduate students from other Universities (from Argentina /abroad) giving a paper: $150 Argentinean Pesos (AADEC member: $80 AP); attending students: $100 Argentinian Pesos (AADEC member: $120 AP)

Students should show a valid student card or certificate from their Universities stating they are current students.

(Approximate change value: 1Euro=$6 Argentinean pesos; 1U$S=$4.30 pesos)

Due to the high charges applied to foreign currency orders and to some difficulties managing different bank systems, we ask foreign attendants to the Colloquium to confirm their participation (sending the Registration Form and abstract/proposal, if applicable) and to pay once arriving at the Colloquium. The fee will be charged according to the date stated in the Registration form.

Please note that personal cheques or credit card payments will not be accepted.

We look forward to meeting you at this new event

Yours sincerely,

Claudia Fernández, Juan Nápoli y Graciela Zecchin de Fasano

Invited speakers: Marta Alesso (Universidad Nacional de La Pampa/AADEC) Anna Beltrametti (Università di Pavia) Douglas Cairns (University of Edinburgh) Jesús de la Villa Polo (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) Lilian Doherty (University of Maryland) Adriane Duarte (Universidad de São Paulo) Delfim Ferreira Leão (Universidade de Coimbra) Judith Fletcher (Wilfrid Laurier University) David García Pérez (Universidad Autónoma de México) Maria do Céu Grácio Zambujo Fialho (Universidade de Coimbra) Barbara Graziosi (Durham University) Carmen Morenilla Talens (Universidad de Valencia) Violaine Sebillotte Cuchet (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) Christian Werner (Universidad de São Paulo) Victoria Wohl (University of Toronto)

For further information please contact:

Secretariat

Centro de Estudios Helénicos

Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación

Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Calle 51 entre 124 y 125

Edificio C, oficina 301

1925 Ensenada, ARGENTINA

Tel. (54) (221) 4230127 Interno 1136

E-mail: vii.coloquio.internacional@gmail.com

URL: http://coloquiointernacionalceh.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/7ciceh

TWO PHD SCHOLARSHIPS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BASEL

Secondly, we would like to inform you of two PhD positions offered by the Department of Ancient Civilizations at the University of Basel. The scholarships will be granted for one year, starting from the 1^st of October 2015. The deadline for applications is the 30^th of April 2015. Read the full offer:

The PhD program of the Department of Ancient Civilizations at the University of Basel announces two one-year scholarships, starting at the 1st of October 2015 (á 30'000 CHF per year; two tranches with evaluation).

The grants are intended to support young graduates during their starting phase of their PhD research project. It is expected that he/she will develop his/her research project in that time for applying to the Swiss National Science Foundation or other funding institutions at the end of that year.

The scholarships are addressed to students who hold an 1st class MA-degree either in Egyptology, Classical Archaeology, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Ancient History, Greek Philology, Latin Philology, Comparative and Historic Linguistics or European Archaeology. Most welcome are PhD projects that can be linked to the research fields of the Department of Ancient Civilizations at the University of Basel.

It is expected that the PhD student is highly motivated and will personally be involved in the PhD program of the Department of Ancient Civilizations at the University of Basel (German is the main language of teaching).

The PhD student has to choose from the date of admission to the doctoral program a first or second supervisor from the Department of Ancient Civilizations at the University of Basel. The enrollment at the University of Basel is mandatory.

Application deadline: 30th of April 2015

The following documents should be sent as PDFs by email (hubertus.muench@unibas.ch) to the Graduate Committee:

·        Letter of motivation

·        CV

·        MA-Diploma

·        1-2 sample of text (max. 20 pages each, including at least 1 academic qualification text, like BA- or MA-thesis)

·        Sketch for the dissertation project (max. 3 pages)

·        Letter of reference

For further information, please contact Mr. Hans-H. Muench (coordinator of the doctoral program of the Basel Ancient Studies, hubertus.muench@unibas.ch).

PETITION TO SAVE THE BASEL CAST COLLECTION

Today´s news, once more, contains information related to the preservation of archaeological material. We would like you to consider signing the petition against a budget cut designed by the Governing Council of Basel, Switzerland, which would lead to the closure of the Skulpturhalle Basel. This institution of international reputation displays 2.200 casts of Greek and Roman art and is thus the third largest collection of its kind. Please follow the link in order to sign the petition.

PHD FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE: UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN, NORWAY

The University of Bergen would like to inform you of six PhD Research Fellowships which are available at the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion from the 1^st of August 2015.

The deadline for applications is the 9^th of February 2015; please follow this link for further information.

DARMSTÄDTER DISKUSSIONEN: CALL FOR PAPERS

The first part of today´s news is the announcement of the “Darmstädter Diskussionen”, an interdisciplinary conference primarily aimed at PhD students and Post-docs in the field of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology which will be held in September 2015 at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. See below for more information and for the Call for Papers (abstracts should be submitted until the 1^st of March 2015).

Secondly, we would like to share with you the new and comprehensive database of UK doctoral theses being written in the field of Classical Studies.

“We are pleased to announce the 7th international and interdisciplinary conference “Darmstädter Diskussionen”, which will take place in Darmstadt from 23rd to 26th September 2015.

“Darmstädter Diskussionen” is an interdisciplinary conference for PhD students and Post-docs which is organised annually by the Department of Ancient History and the Department of Classical Archaeology at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. The growing popularity of the conference over the last years has highlighted the importance of an academic event specifically designed for highly qualified young researchers. Contrasting conferences with a strict thematic or chronological avenue, “Darmstädter Diskussionen” deliberately pursues an interdisciplinary and diachronic framework not only to provide young scholars with a platform to discuss their research appropriately and to build up their own networks but also to facilitate general intra- and interdisciplinary communication in Classical Studies. Participants will find ample room for the exchange of knowledge within their own peer group and beyond.

Qualified PhD students and Post-docs in the fields of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology are invited to present their latest research results. Presentations will embrace research on the languages and literature, history, civilization, art, and archaeology of the ancient world, placing strong emphasis on aspects such as archaeological fieldwork, philology, theory and material approaches. The official language of the conference is German. However, presentations in English will also be accepted.

Application:

Please send an abstract (including up to five keywords) of not more than 300 words and your CV (personal data sheet) to the Organizing Committee by 1st March 2015. Please send all files in pdf-format to: anmeldung@darmstaedter-diskussionen.de

For further information please visit: www.darmstaedter-diskussionen.de

With best regards,

Anabelle Thurn, Marion Bolder-Boos, Dominik Maschek, Sven Page”

UK DOCTORAL THESES IN PROGRESS

“The Institute of Classical Studies is pleased to announce the publication on its website of a database of UK Doctoral Theses at http://www.icls.sas.ac.uk/students/uk-doctoral-theses. The database is designed to provide up-to-date information on current doctoral research in the field of Classics, as broadly defined, and to act as a permanent record of theses as they are completed. The database is searchable by keyword, area of study, department, University or date of commencement or expected completion. A complete list of theses may also be viewed.

Additions or corrections to the database may be submitted at any time to valerie.james@sas.ac.uk. It is envisaged that requests to update the information contained in the database will be sent to each Department on an annual basis.

Valerie James

Institute Manager, Institute of Classical Studies”