The Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies of the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity is organising an international conference on ‘Re-imagining the Past: Antiquity and Modern Greek Culture’ to be held at the University of Birmingham on 27 and 28 June 2011. The aim of the conference is to offer new perspectives on the relationship between Modern Greece and Antiquity by exploring strategies of engagement with, appropriation, or even rejection of the ancient past. It will seek to re-examine Greek perceptions of the ancient past from the fifteenth century onwards, to re-consider different cultural or ideological uses of this past and to re-assess the contribution of antiquity to the emergence and development of modern Greek culture.  The conference will include speakers from the UK, USA, Australia, Greece, Cyprus, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Georgia and Turkey. It is also multidisciplinary including historians, archaeologists, classicists, linguists, drama and literature specialists and others. The keynote address will be delivered by Professor Lorna Hardwick who is a pioneer in Reception Studies in Antiquity in the UK and worldwide.

The programme and the registration form are available on the conference web site: www.reimaginingthepast.bham.ac.uk