Call for papers: Women in Classical Antiquity

Papers are invited on the theme of ‘Women in Classical Antiquity: Between Image and Lived Realities’, which will form part of the 8th Celtic Conference in Classics, 25-28 June 2014.

The conference is being organised by Professor Douglas Cairns, Professor of Classics and Dr Anton Powell.

The theme (panel) on Women in Classical Antiquity will be chaired by Dr Diana Rodríguez Pérez, a Postdoctoral Fellow and Dr Glenys Davies, Senior Lecturer in Classical Art and Archaeology, School of History, Classics and Archaeology.

Dr Rodríguez Pérez says:

“This panel will seek to explore women, their images and characteristic objects in the classical cultures - including those of Greece, Rome, Etruria, Persia - and contemporary indigenous societies such as the Iberian.

“It will focus on visual culture and archaeology, including all forms of artistic representation, with special attention to the problems and methodologies involved”.

Aims

The aim of the panel is twofold:

• to study the images of women and the archaeological evidence regarding them from varied points of view and methodologies (art-history, iconography, post structuralism)
• to address the question of how images can contribute to our understanding (or misunderstanding) of the lived realities of women in the ancient world.

Topics for discussion

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• scenes or images of women in their socio-political context
• images abroad: women in the export market
• images, symbols, metaphors
• how (not) to paint a woman
• women and death
• grave goods and gender identity
• women’s pots: only for women?
• colonial contacts and women
• cosmetics
• clothing and hairstyle
• the beautiful woman
• divine models.

Dr Rodríguez Pérez and Dr Davies welcome proposals for papers of 20 minutes’ duration on any of the above (or related) topics.

Deadline: 1 November 2013

Please send abstracts of a maximum of 300 words to Dr Rodríguez Pérez and/or Dr Davies (contact details below) by 1 November 2013.

Please note

Please note that the Celtic Conference is self-funding and all speakers must arrange and bear the cost of their own accommodation, subsistence and conference fee. The languages of the Celtic Conference in Classics are English and French.