GKA HUMAN 2021 VIRTUAL | APRIL 19-24, 2021
10th International Conference on Humanities in collaboration with the National Hellenic Research Foundation

Highlighted Theme
Performance In Late Antiquity And Byzantium
This international conference aims to bring together scholars from various fields related to PERFORMANCE IN LATE ANTIQUITY AND BYZANTIUM. Performance and performativity represent an aspect of pre-modern Greek literature and culture that has not yet received sufficient attention. We are looking at performativity in its broadest sense across genres in an attempt to trace its function in various contexts. Our interdisciplinary approach is informed by the methodological lens of performance studies.
We hope that the conference will contribute to the growing field of performance studies and their application in the fields of Late Antiquity and Byzantium with new material and perspectives and that it will offer scholars working on performance and performativity the possibility for a lively dialogue on aspects related to this exciting topic.
Highlighted Sessions
- Text And Performance
- Somatic Performance
- Visuality As Performance
- Ritual And Performance
- Rhetorical Performance In The Public Sphere
- Sound As Performance
- Performance In Everyday Life
Other conference themes
- Literary theory.
- Literary criticism.
- Authors and reference books. Comparison between novels.
- Literary genres. Comparison between genres.
- Comparison between characters.
- Global literature.
- Symbolisms in literature.
- Literature and cultural diversity.
- Oral tradition.
- Historic context.
- Politics, religion and values in literature.
- History. History of art.
- Philosophy. Anthropology. Ethnology.
- Archeology. Paleontology.
- History, nature and evolution of language.
- Philosophy of language. Philosophy of the mind
- Linguistics. Semiotics.
- Museology.
- Musicology.
- Teaching and learning of the humanities.
- Acquisition of language.
- Psychology of the education.
- Language learning.
- Personal and professional development.
- The book. Past, present and future. E-books E-readers Smartphones
- Edition. From textuality to multimodality.
- Intellectual Property Rights. Copyright
- Open access, open licenses, free culture and free software. Creative Commons
- Libraries, archives and metrics. Bibliometry Webometry
- The new role of librarians, editors, booksellers, authors and readers.
- New models and editorial processes. The self-publication Print on demand.
- Political Sciences.
- The human and the social: interdisciplinary studies.
- Linguistics and cultural diversity.
- Human interactions and media.
- New media and human behavior.
- The role of race, ethnicity, education, social class, age and religion in defining social structures within a culture.
- Aging.
- The expansion and access of rights through the concepts of justice and human rights.
- Migration. International relations. Globalisation
- Cultural heritage.
- Man and his environment. The impact of human activities on the environment. Anthropocene Deep ecology.
- Digital humanities. Digital libraries Hypertexts Multimodality
- History and philosophy of science.
- History and philosophy of technology.
- Science, technology and values.
- Science, technology and culture.
- Transhumanism. Posthumanism
- Minds and machines. Philosophy of the mind
- Neurophilosophy.
- Artificial intelligence.
- Man and the media.
- Science fiction.
Scientific Coordination

The conference comes as a conclusion to the research project hosted by the Institute of Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation. The IHR/NHRF conducts research on the political, economic, social and cultural history of Greek and Roman Antiquity, Byzantium and modern Hellenism. The Institute emerged in 2012 from the merging of the three former Humanities research institutes of the NHRF (KERA, IBR and INR), the oldest research institutions for historical and philological sciences in Greece. The Institute’s research objectives are the historical documentation and interpretation, the diffusion of new knowledge, and the training of young scholars, thus contributing to national self-awareness and active presence in the international scientific community.
We are also particularly grateful to the Center for Hellenic Studies of Harvard University (Washington DC), the Institute of Classical Studies and Liberal Arts of the American College of Greece and the Global Knowledge Academics for their support and participation in this endeavor. We are also indebted to the Center for Hellenic Studies-Harvard, Greece for its support.
Honorary Committee
- Maria Christina Chatziioannou, Director of the Institute of Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation
- Gregory Nagy and Francis Jones, Professor of Classical Greek Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature, Director of CHS Harvard, Washington, DC
- Richard Martin, Antony and Isabelle Raubitschek, Professor in Classics at Stanford, Chair of the Senior Fellows and Chair for Academic Affairs, CHS Harvard, Washington, DC.
- Anna Stavrakopoulou, Member of CHS Greece Board of Directors, Program Director of Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC
- Helen Marangou, Professor of English and Modern Languages at ACG, Director of the DEREE International Honors Program, Vice president of the Board of the Hellenic Association of American Studies
- Loren Jay Sammons, Professor of Classical Studies at Boston University, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives & Executive Director at The Institute for Hellenic Culture and Liberal Arts Integration of ACG
- Karim Gherab, Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at Rey Juan Carlos University, Permanent Scientific Director at GKAcademics.
Organizing Committee
- Niki Tsironis, Institute of Historical Research – National Hellenic Research Foundation, Associate in Byzantine Studies, CHS-Harvard
- Yiannis Petropoulos, Professor of Ancient Greek Literature, Democritus University of Thrace, Director Emeritus of CHS Harvard, Greece
- Maria Leontsini, Senior Researcher, Institute of Historical Research – National Hellenic Research Foundation
- George Calofonos, Byzantine Historian, Research Associate of the Performance in Late Antiquity and Byzantium Project, Institute of Historical Research, Institute of Historical Research – National Hellenic Research Foundation
- Maria Sardi, Historian of Islamic Art, Research Associate of the Performance in Late Antiquity and Byzantium Project, Institute of Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation
- Katia Savrami, Assistant Professor in Choreology, Theatre Studies Department, University of Patras
- Academic Secretary: Natalia Gkolfinopoulou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
- Project Management: Maria Sardi – Ainos Cultural Society
Program
The program is provisional and is subject to changes.
You can check the program of the previous edition in the following link.
Highlighted Speakers

“Performance: True or False?”
Prof.Peter Meineck, Associate Professor Of Classics In The Modern World At New York University
Peter Meineck holds the endowed chair of Professor of Classics in the Modern World at New York University (USA) and is Honorary Professor of Humanities at the University of Nottingham (UK). He specializes in ancient performance, cognitive theory, and contemporary classical drama, and has published widely on these subjects. Recent publications include Theatrocracy: Greek Drama, Cognition and the Imperative for Theatre (Routledge 2018), Classics and Cognitive Theory (Routledge 2018), and Combat Trauma and the Ancient Greeks (Palgrave 2015). His new translation of Aristophanes Frogs is currently in press with Hackett Publishing, and he is currently working on a new book on the tragic playwright Aeschylus. Professor Meineck founded Aquila Theatre in London in 1991, which has since become one of the foremost producers of classical drama and innovative public programming in the United States (Aquila is now based in New York). With Aquila, he has produced and/or directed over fifty professional stage productions and developed many programs aimed at giving voice to marginalized communities, including veterans, students in Harlem and the Bronx in New York City, immigrants, and refugees. This work received the Chairman’s Special Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Outreach Prize from the American Philological Association.
Key Dates
1st Call for papers: March 2, 2021
FINAL Call for papers: April 2, 2021
Registration with super discount: until March 9, 2021
Early Registration: until April 11, 2021
Final Registration: from April 12 to 18, 2021
Submission of articles for publication: until May 24, 2021
Delivery of certificates: May 24, 2021
Publication of the Conference Proceedings: June 24, 2021
Follow these steps
Choose between Webinar (Live Presentation) and Video (Prerecorded Presentation). You can check the characteristics of each one in the next section.
Title of the presentation, short abstract (max. 300 words), long abstract (for the Book of Proceedings), keywords, the language of the presentation, data of the main author, and data of the co-authors. The scientific committee will review your proposal within 2-3 weeks and notify you by email (please check your SPAM folder).
Once your proposal has been accepted, you must pay for your registration at the conference according to the type of presentation chosen.
Consult the conference program to check the day, time, and virtual room where your presentation has been scheduled. If you are presenting a webinar, check out our quick guide to learn about the controls of the ZOOM platform and the technical requirements that your computer and internet connection must meet. You can also participate in a test session a few days before the conference, to test your audio, video, and slide presentations.
- Log in with your username and password on the GKA virtual congress platform: https://virtual.gkacademics.com/
- Go to the conference main page and click on the green button “Start Conference”.
- In the list of panels on the left side, find the virtual room you wish to access and click on it.
- Click on the “Join via Web Client” button to access directly from your browser.
Speakers may submit an article for publication (at a discount) in a GKA indexed book or journal, as assessed by the scientific committee. Download the template and see the guidelines at this link.
Proposal submission

Webinar
(Live Presentation)
The speaker will enter live in a virtual room of ZOOM platform – along with other speakers on the same topic – and present his or her paper for a maximum of 15 minutes, supported with slides (e.g., PowerPoint)or speaking directly to the camera on their device. Each room will have a moderator who will introduce the speakers, keep time, and moderate questions from attendees for 20 minutes at the end of the session.
Next deadline:
March 2, 2021.
Before submitting your proposal, read our Quick Guide and check our Frequently Asked Questions.

Video
(Prerecorded Presentation)
This option is ideal for those who cannot participate in the live conference. This option allows the author to record their presentation in the format of a 5-minute video and send the link (Youtube or Vimeo) through the proposal submission platform. The video will be published in a virtual conference room related to its theme and will be available to all attendees of the event. Important: the video must contain an oral presentation.
Registration
Before registering, check the frequently asked questions and our cancellation policy.
The registration fee is payable to GKA for the technical support of the conference.