“Roman Anxieties”
2015 Pacific Rim Seminar for Roman Literature
The University of Auckland
8-10 July, 2015

Roman literature manifests and thematises anxiety in a variety of ways; the sources of Roman anxieties were themselves widely varied. We invite proposals for papers on any aspect of the theme ‘Roman anxieties’ in Latin literature and related fields. The Roman anxieties under discussion could relate to the following issues: social and political change; ethical uncertainties; gender and sexuality; ethnic, cultural or religious identity; literary influence and belatedness.

This list is not exhaustive nor intended to be prescriptive. Moreover, the topic is not limited to material from the Classical period. We welcome papers on ‘Roman anxieties’ that deal with the reception of Rome and Roman literature in literary, artistic, scholarly and pedagogical contexts ranging from Late Antiquity to the present day.

We hope to arrange a joint session with the Australasian Applied and Professional Ethics Conference, which will be running concurrently at Auckland with the Pacific Rim Seminar. We invite expressions of interest from anyone interested in offering a short presentation that seeks to compare or contrast the treatment of ethical anxieties, or social roles or identities in Roman texts to the way they are conceived in the modern world.

Format: The Pacific Rim Seminar does not run parallel sessions, so participants can attend any or all papers. Papers may be 20 minutes with ten minutes of discussion time, or 40 minutes with 20 minutes of discussion time. In your abstract please specify whether you prefer a 20 or 40 minute presentation slot. The deadline for abstracts is the 31st of March, but earlier submissions are welcome and will be responded to within two weeks of submission.

If you wish to offer a paper, please submit a 300-word abstract to mj.wilson@auckland.ac.nz.

Conference fee: NZ$100, with a concession rate of NZ$60 for postgraduate and unwaged attendees.

Coordinators: Marcus Wilson (mj.wilson@auckland.ac.nz)
Christina Robertson (cjr.robertson@gmail.com)