Conference Annoucement!
As we have already informed, AΦR co-operates with the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Hradec Králové (FF UHK), in a project titled Oral History and the Classics.
One of the acitivities of the project team, led by prof. Jaroslav Daneš, Ph.D., is organising an international conference in Hradec Králové, which will be held on June 1st-3rd, 2024. The title of the conference is: Classics: the Past, the Present, and the Future. “Classics”, certainly, includes the history of research on ancient philosophy and its reception. Deadline for submissions is in March and the keynote speakers are professors Frisbee Sheffield, Neville Morley, Sophie Mills, Filip Karfík, and Cinzia Bearzot.
The most up to date information on the conference is available on the conference website: memoryclassics.eu
Late submissions will still be considered!!!
This post will be updated.
Conclusion of a Research Stay in Aleksander-Brückner-Zentrum in Halle
As we have already announced, a member of AΦR, Mariam Sargsyan, received a scholarship from NAWA for a three months (April-July 2023) research stay in Martin-Luther-Universität (MLU) in Halle (Saale), in Aleksander-Brückner-Zentrum (ABZ) for Polish Studies. During her visit she delivered there a talk on the topic of her dissertation.
This academic internship turned out to be very fruitful for the internee. The aim of her stay in Halle was to broaden her knowledge of historical and cultural background of H. Jakubanis’, whose research in ancient philosophy is the central problem of her dissertation. In addition to delivering her paper, M. Sargsyan conducted library query in the collections of the MLU in Halle and took part in the activities of the ABZ. Her stay in Halle turned out to be successful, for she managed to enrich biographical part of her dissertation with information about the history of higher education in Central and Eastern Europe.
A unique experience for M. Sargsyan was her co-operation with international researchers, since scholars from Germany, Poland and Ukraine were involved in academic work at the ABZ. M. Sargsyan appreciated their continuous will to help, provide advice or simply enjoy a friendly conversation during lunch. For all this M. Sargsyan is very grateful. She enjoyed to observe the scholars who were carefully and attentively involved in their interdisciplinary research and who thus contributed to the development of the ABZ, which as a whole is succesfully led by prof. Yvonne Kleinmann. M. Sargsyan is very thankful for the academic atmosphere she had the opportunity to experience.
During the two final weeks of M. Sargsyan’s research stay in Halle she was accompanied by T. Mróz, supervisor of her disseration. Apart from academic activities, thanks to the initiative of prof. Sven Jaros, they were able to visit Marienbibliothek in Halle.
We hope that M. Sargsyan’s visit in Halle is not the final act of the co-operation between ABZ and AΦR. Let us only remark that in September 2023 ABZ is celebrating its tenth anniversary and has great plans for future academic development. Best wishes!
20th Annual Conference of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies
International Society for Neoplatonic Studies (ISNS) has for decades been a forum for scholars researching various phaenomena in the history of Neoplatonism, including even the latest developments of the reception of Platonism. In June 14th-17th, 2023, ISNS conference was held at the foot of Etna, in Catania, in co-operation with Università degli Studi di Catania.
One of the numerous panels at the conference was devoted to Plato’s Timaeus, the concept of time and its influence on various thinkers across the history of philosophy up to recent times. The panel was organised by the two professors, Laura Marongiu and Laura Follesa, both of University of Milan. Although this panel focused on relatively narrow topic, the response from scholars was impressive and thus the list of speakers in this successful panel demonstrated incessant interest of generations of scholars in the Timaeus, the late dialogue of Plato. The topics ranged from Speusippus, Aristotle, Xenocrates, Numenius, Plotinus, Iamblichus, Proclus, Simplicius and Philoponus to M. Ficino, L. Bruno, F.W.J. Schelling, G.W.F. Hegel, H. Bergson and E. Husserl (on the photo: L. Follesa, L. Marongiu & T. Mróz).
T. Mróz presented a paper titled The Timaeus and Three Scholars of One Generation: P. Natorp, P. Shorey and W. Lutosławski. Mróz discussed various interpretations of the Timaeus by the three scholars, focusing on their general methods in reading Plato and their views on Plato’s concept of the time, although none of them considered the time to be the central issue in the dialogue.
ISNS conferences have always been a forum for scholars who explore various aspects of Platonism, Neoplatonism and Plato reception from antiquity up to contemporary times. Professor John Finamore, spiritus movens of all of ISNS symposia, spares no efforts to hold ISNS events in various academic centres and to provide opportunity for scholars throughout the world to take part in them. He has recently announced that next year’s ISNS conference will take place in Dublin, in co-operation with Trinity College.
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