Seen on the Classicists list:

This colloquium addresses the variety of ways in which emotions are used in
strategies of persuasion within and between societies, groups and
individuals in the ancient world, considering different strata of society,
and diverse media of communication. Persuasion may be effected, for
example, by narrative, explicit exhortation, or covert manipulation through
the judicious use of certain words and phrases. Emotional strategies can be
aimed at superiors, inferiors or one’s equals; to strangers or friends; and
attempted for personal gain or the public good. They can appear in oral
communications designed to be heard briefly – i.e. forensic, deliberative,
epideictic, hortatory or supplicatory oratory – their representations in
literature, or in written communications that can be read again and again
(philosophical treatises, other literary works, letters, inscriptions).

In recent years scholarship on emotive persuasion techniques has focused
primarily on explicit exhortation to feel a small group of emotions (anger,
hatred, envy, gratitude, pity) in Attic forensic oratory, rhetorical
techniques as propounded by philosophers (Aristotle, pseudo-Aristotle,
Cicero, Quintilian), and theatrical techniques such as dress, gesture or
vocal techniques. The last of these is outside the scope of this
colloquium, and we aim to move discussion well beyond the former two.

We invite abstracts on any aspect of emotion(s) used to persuade, in any
period of ancient Greece or Rome from the earliest written texts through to
Late Antiquity. In literature this will include rhetorical treatises
(mainly in their relation to other forms of literature), actual speeches
(from Classical Athens through Rome to the ‘Second Sophistic’ and early
Christian sermons), representations of actual or fictional speeches in other
genres (epic, drama, historiography etc.), and other forms of literature
whose purpose may be deemed partly to persuade (e.g. philosophical
treatises, consolations, satires, epodes, Pauline letters). In non-literary
media it will include texts preserved in inscriptions or on papyri such as
imperial rescripts from and petitions to emperors, private letters, and
prayers or curses addressed to gods. Supplementary questions, especially in
non-literary media, will be to consider whether women’s voices differ from
men’s (or from male representations of female voices), and to what extent
the ‘common man’ (and woman) makes use, or not, of literary techniques
developed by higher-status educated men.

Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be sent to Ed.Sanders AT rhul.ac.uk
and Matthew.Johncock.2011 AT live.rhul.ac.uk by 23 December 2012

Confirmed speakers include: Professors Chris Carey (UCL), Angelos Chaniotis
(Princeton), Eleanor Dickey (Exeter) and Catherine Steel (Glasgow)

The colloquium will take place at Royal Holloway’s central London buildings
at 11 Bedford Square/2 Gower Street, London WC1B 3RF. It is generously
supported by the Institute of Classical Studies and the Centre for Oratory
and Rhetoric at Royal Holloway

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The "Public and Private in the Roman House" project (romanhouse.org) is organizing a conference at the University of Helsinki, Finland in April 2013. Keynote speakers include Filippo Coarelli, Paul Zanker and Margareta Steinby. The aim of this conference is to take a fresh look at notions of public and private within the domus by exploring the public and private spheres of the Roman house from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The "Public and Private in the Roman House" is an ongoing project organizing its second major event, building on the success of a workshop at NYU this October. Please find the call for papers below.

Call for Papers: Public and Private in the Roman House and Society Conference

April 18-20, 2013, University of Helsinki, Finland

Abstract deadline: December 15, 2012

E-mail: romanhouse2013 AT gmail.com

Ancient Roman houses were designed to suit both the private life of its occupants and the demands of public life. As a result, the division between public and private spaces inside the domus was a complicated topic even for the Romans themselves. Previous scholarship has tended to treat the domus in terms of a rigid division between public and private, with the same division acting as a gender marker for (male) political activities and (female) domestic activities respectively. This strict division within the household now seems outdated. The aim of this conference, then, is to take a fresh look at notions of public and private within the domus by exploring the public and private spheres of the Roman house from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The "Public and Private in the Roman House and Society" is an ongoing project organizing its second major event, building on the success of a workshop at NYU this October. Keynote speakers include Filippo Coarelli, Margareta Steinby and Paul Zanker.

We therefore invite papers that explore the complex relationship between public and private in Roman society from a variety of perspectives – historical, archaeological, philological, architectural and anthropological – in order to further the understanding of the domus as a place for social, cultural, political and administrative action.

Potential themes include but are not limited to:
– The house and the city: Political and administrative spaces
– The Roman house as political, religious, social and cultural arena
– Newest theories and methods in the study of privacy/public in the Roman House
– Public and private in material culture and artefact studies
– The provincial house: Local and Roman building traditions and usages
– Changes and Continuities of the Roman house in Late Antiquity
– Gender in the house

The conference is organized by the project Public and Private in the Roman House (romanhouse.org), which seeks to contribute to the ongoing debate on privacy in the ancient world as well as the issues of how the limits between public and private spaces were drawn. In an attempt to gain new perspectives on these questions, the project seeks to utilize comparative anthropological theories concerning the conceptualization of the public/private interface.

Please submit your abstract (300 words) as a [word/pdf] file to Juhana Heikonen at romanhouse2013 AT gmail.com Please include your name, academic affiliation and address in your email.

The deadline for submission of abstracts is December 15, 2012.