Exploring the relationship between classics and politics, and in particular exploring how classics fared under Communism, has been the subject of several conferences organized by a growing international research team, first assembled by the Collegium Budapest and the University of Warsaw (Gnôthi seauton, Warsaw 2009, Budapest 2010), and expanded in Warsaw 2013 (Our Mythical Childhood) and Ljubljana 2013 (Classics & Class). Two volumes have been published so far, with another two forthcoming.

The conference will focus on ancient theatre, a topic tentatively researched in Budapest in 2010, where the focus was on staging Antigone in Hungary and Poland between 1945 and 1989. The Warsaw conference in January 2015 will broaden this perspective by including all relevant countries behind the Iron Curtain and a variety of plays and performances, while adding the phenomenon of theatrical productions from within and outside of the region on international tournées.

We are calling for scholarly and creative research that will address various aspects of translating and staging ancient plays under a restrictive political regime, as well as on other subjects related to the broader area of classics and Communism, welcoming papers from academics and graduate students based in classical studies, history, drama, and art.

The scholars interested are invited to e-mail a short abstract of the proposed paper (200 words) and a CV to Dr. Elżbieta Olechowska, Faculty of “Artes Liberales,” University of Warsaw (elzbieta.olechowska@gmail.com), to Dr. David Movrin, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana (david.movrin@ff.uni-lj.si), or to Dr. Henry Stead, Department of Classics, King's College London (henry.stead@kcl.ac.uk). The deadline for proposals is May 2, 2014; see http://www.classics.si for details. Limited funds will be available to defray the cost of travel and accommodation. Please feel free to forward this message to your colleagues who might be interested in participating.