Kickoff Address: Ralph Rosen, University of Pennsylvania

Keynote Address: Ellen Oliensis, University of California-Berkeley

Click here to download the conference poster (PDF format).

Whether a society espouses "freedom of speech" as the right of all or the privilege of the few, the articulation of this concept rarely (if ever) aligns with its practice. Every individual and group must navigate multiple levels of constraint imposed upon expression, whether these are explicitly prescribed by an authoritative body or enshrined through convention and decorum. Similarly, agents must negotiate changes in historical circumstance that affect the laws and customs surrounding different kinds of self-expression, including speech, behavior, dress, and aesthetics.

Our conference explores the freedoms and limitations that agents encountered in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. Topics include theories of free speech; ways in which speakers try to achieve their ends by modifying their expression in response to political, religious, and social constraints, including gender, class, and morality; the social contexts of these constraints; and historical watersheds in the regulation of expression. Please see our schedule and abstracts for more detailed information.