Second Biennial North American Cicero Awayday | 12 April 2025
The departments of Classics and Philosophy at Wake Forest University cordially invite you to the second biennial North American Cicero Awayday on 12 April 2025 at the Wake Downtown campus in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The event will run from 9 am to 5 pm. The previous North American Cicero Awayday was held at the University of Virginia in 2023.
The Awayday offers an informal and friendly forum for papers on any aspect of Cicero’s life, works, and reception. Presenters and papers for this fully in-person event can be found below; a program and additional information will be posted here closer to the event date. The event will begin formally at 9 am (with breakfast at 8 am) and run until 5 pm, with breaks for coffee and lunch.
Registration
Registration (at this link) is free and will allow you to receive efficient updates re lodging, scheduling, etc. Please register by 21 March if you wish to be guaranteed a light breakfast and lunch on the day of the conference; space is limited but we hope to accommodate everyone who registers. Lodging information can be found below.
General queries may be directed to John Oksanish (oksanijm@wfu.edu).
Presenters and Papers
| Caroline Bishop | Texas Tech University | Self-Canonization in Cicero and Vergil |
| Christopher Simon | University of Chicago | Cicero the Reluctant Pragmatist: Language, Politics and the Politics of Language in the Philippics |
| Dalton Sala | Bryn Mawr College | Do Stage and Actors Matter in Ciceronian Dialogue? The Case for Drama in De finibus |
| Ethan Della Rocca | Cornell University | Book Divisions as Literary Devices in Cicero’s Ad Atticum |
| Francesco Ginelli | Università di Milano / University of Milan | The Orator and the Dux The reception of Cicero’s political ideas during the fascist “ventennio” |
| Katherine Petrasek | University of Exeter | Cicero as a Medical Layperson: Investigating Ciceronian Works Through the Lens of Ancient Greco-Roman Medicine |
| Marsha McCoy | Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX | Wine, Women… and Conviction: Cicero and the Trial of Verres |
| Tiziano Boggio | Vertex Partnership Academies | Cicero’s Dismemberment and the Dissolution of the Republic in Early Imperial Literature |
| Ximing Lu | University of Oregon | Marcus’ Symposium in Athens |
Lodging
Although there are several local options for hotels downtown (and many others a short distance away by car), the two following options above are adjacent to one another, are comparable in price, and are a roughly 12-15 minute walk to the conference venue, Wake Downtown (where we will also have our breakfast, lunch, and coffee breaks).
If you wish to make your booking by phone, be sure to mention the Cicero Awayday.
Winston-Salem Marriott Downtown
+13367253500 or 1-800-228-9290
+13367242300
NB Again, you are not bound to use these hotels if you prefer to stay elsewhere in the vicinity, but please consider booking soon, as the River Run International Film Festival will begin the weekend of our conference.
Winston-Salem and Environs (Getting here, etc.)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where Wake Forest University is located, may be accessed by car from I-40 and US-52 (inter alia), and from regional airports: GSO (Greensboro, NC, ca. 30 minutes away by car/ride service); CLT (Charlotte-Douglas International Airport) and RDU (Raleigh-Durham International Airport, ca. 75-90 minutes away by car/ride service). Note that the latter two options are a considerable distance from the University; extra planning is recommended.
You you can learn a little about Winston-Salem here; a fuller welcome packet will be distributed to those who register and at the conference.