APA Blog
Call for Participants: Online Summer Symposium
On "Cyrus' Paradise: A Collaborative Commentary to Xenophon's Cyropaedia"
June 18–29, 2012
Sponsored by Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington, DC (http://chs.harvard.edu/)
Moderated by David Carlisle (Washington and Lee University), Sarah Ferrario (Catholic University), Jennifer Gates-Foster (University of Texas-Austin), Allen Romano (Florida State University), Norman Sandridge (Howard University).
We welcome scholars of all relevant disciplines (Classics, Archaeology, Political Science, other Humanities fields) to participate in a two-week online “garden party,” where we will all do what we love doing: reading a wondrous ancient text in a virtual social setting, posing questions, and sharing insights. The goal will be not only to learn from one another and produce comments to the Cyropaedia of the highest quality but also to build and maintain a community with a shared interest in Xenophon’s masterwork. Contributions both large and small are welcome, even at the level of sharing references to your own prior work. While we welcome those with broad questions about (1) ancient leadership and governance, (2) the relationship between the Cyropaedia and Persian culture, and (3) narratology, we also welcome those with interests in, inter alia, ancient warfare, horsemanship, gender studies, folklore, rhetoric, fourth-century prose, religion, education, food, clothing, the emotions, and the other Near Eastern cultures that Xenophon treats (e.g., the Medes, Armenians, and Assyrians).
Guests of the Symposium may participate from anywhere in the world; all you need is a computer with internet access. For those who may not be familiar with all parts of the Cyropaedia guidance to relevant passages and some possible questions will be provided in advance. Technical support will be available throughout.
This Symposium is part of a larger vision for “Cyrus’ Paradise” that is consistent with the Center for Hellenic Studies’ mission to pursue the study of the ancient world in an intergenerational fashion. Accordingly, beginning in the fall of 2012 the results of this Symposium, and future contributions to the commentary, will form part of the undergraduate Greek instruction at several colleges and universities across the United States. Book One of the Cyropaedia, in particular, will be supplemented with video commentaries, grammatical and syntactical worksheets, and a translation. Those who would like to use this commentary for their own courses, anywhere in the world, are welcome to do so. It’s free! More information about this project may be found at www.cyropaedia.org.
Anyone interested in joining the online garden party in “Cyrus’ Paradise” this June is invited to contact us at: contact@cyropaedia.org.
