REGULAR ACTIVITIES
Members of L-CAP organise the Ancient Philosophy seminar series in the Institute of Classical Studies. Each year, the seminar draws lectures from first-rate experts in ancient philosophy from across the UK as well as abroad.
Staff from KCL and UCL take turns to convene the Greek Text Seminar. Each term, L-CAP staff and students meet weekly to read together through an ancient Greek philosophical text (e.g. a Platonic dialogue or a book from an Aristotelian treatise). Participants take turns to translate and comment on a section of the text and the ensuing discussion ranges from minute points of linguistic detail to the big philosophical questions. During the Summer Term, sessions are devoted to work in progress (presented by both staff and students) and to ‘Old Chestnuts’: very famous passages of ancient philosophy which we try to read as if for the first time.
Beginning in 1981, and through the generosity of an anonymous donor, the Keeling Centre in the UCL Department of Philosophy, in consultation with the Department of Greek & Latin, organises an annual lecture in ancient philosophy. Each year, the lecture is given by a world-leading scholar of ancient philosophy, who since 2012 also runs a Graduate Masterclass open to all L-CAP students. Recent speakers include: Alexander Nehamas, MM McCabe, Gábor Betegh, Dorothea Frede, A. A. Long, Susanne Bobzien, David Sedley and Gail Fine. In addition, the Keeling Centre supports the Keeling Scholar-in-Residence, an internationally renowned expert who teaches a graduate research seminar open to all students of L-CAP (space permitting). Previous Keeling Scholars-in-Residence include MM McCabe, David Sedley and Sarah Broadie.
Every few years since 1994, the Keeling Centre holds a colloquium on a theme or text in ancient philosophy, most of which have been published. The Keeling colloquium is open to all, including members of the public.
This annual conference, organised by Andrew Gregory (UCL), draws together a great array of scholars examining all aspects of ancient science from across the ancient Mediterranean.
Liz Gloyn and John Sellars organize a biennal workshop devoted to some aspect of Stoicism, held at Royal Holloway’s central London location in Bedford Square. The first workshop, in 2019, was devoted to Musonius Rufus.
The Lyceum Society, founded in 2017 by PhD students from KCL and UCL, is a society for research in ancient philosophy. The society organises events and workshops for Masters and PhD students and Early Career Researchers. Over the summer vacation, the Lyceum Society hosts a work-in-progress seminar for researchers in the London area.
Once a term, two students and one staff member from Birkbeck, KCL, Royal Holloway or UCL join two students and one staff member from each of Cambridge and Oxford for a small-group work-in-progress workshop. London students who attend the Greek Text Seminar regularly are eligible for consideration to present.
Once a year, the Southern Association for Ancient Philosophy (SAAP) meets for a short conference in September, where staff and students present work in progress. While SAAP is notionally an association of colleagues based in the South of England, its gatherings include participants from all parts of the UK as well as abroad.
Every other year, staff and students from London, Oxford and Yale meet in one of the three locations to present and discuss work in progress.
PROJECTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS
Described as ‘a marvel … a massive scholarly endeavour of the highest importance’ (The Times) and ‘a truly breathtaking achievement, with few parallels in the history of scholarly endeavour’ (TLS), the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle project has since 1987 published over 110 volumes of translations of late ancient philosophical texts into English, usually for the first time. Founded by Richard Sorabji and based at King’s College London, the project now also has collaborating editors located in multiple institutions.
In this highly acclaimed and popular series of podcasts, Peter Adamson takes listeners through the history of philosophy, ‘without any gaps.’ The series looks at the ideas, lives and historical context of the major philosophers as well as the lesser-known figures of the tradition.
Modern Stoicism is a collaboration between academics and psychotherapists exploring ways in which ancient Stoic ideas might help people in their daily lives. It organizes an annual Stoic Week, a global online experiment inviting people to live like a Stoic for a week, and a series of public events all over the world (Stoicon, Stoicon-x).
MM McCabe and Mike Coxhead were centrally involved in the foundation of Philosophy in Prison. Set up in 2018, the charity promotes philosophical education in prisons, aiming to use philosophical dialogue to engage prisoners of varying educational and cultural backgrounds.