CFP: Conference – Play in Antiquity and its Reception in Modern Popular Culture
University of Bristol, 7-8 July 2025.
Organizing Committee: Lisa Maurice, Susan Deacy, Aimee Hinds Scott
Call for Papers
In the modern world, play is often associated with childhood, especially in light of Article 31 of the UN Convention on the rights of the child, otherwise known as the ‘Right to Play’. This perception of play as the sole preserve of children is a misconception: games of all kinds are enjoyed by a wide variety of age groups, with ludic activities having social, cognitive and educational benefits into old age (Forsyth, 2012; Zelinkski and Reyes, 2014). Where play is associated with adulthood, it is often assumed to be the preserve of specific groups: for example, video-gaming has often traditionally been viewed as a masculine activity, although this has been questioned in recent years. Similarly, play has frequently been assumed to require the luxury of leisure-time, an aspect that overlooks the fact that it has been a universal feature of every society throughout history. These include both Greco-Roman antiquity and our own modern global contexts, and encompasses people of different social and economic classes, genders, and abilities. In recognition of the importance of play, work has begun in recent years into this aspect of the ancient world and its reception in modern societies, leading to scholarship on play in general (Dasen and Vespa, 2021; Harrisson, Lindner, and Unceta Gómez, 2024), board games (e.g., Talloen, 2018; Ignatiadou, 2019; Carè 2022), and video games (e.g., Christesen and Machado, 2010; Rollinger, 2020; Clare, 2021; Draycott and Cook, 2022; Vandewalle, 2024).
This conference aims to build on such research and to develop it further by focussing on ancient contexts of play, ways in which the topic has been reinterpreted in contemporary settings, and the role of play across both contexts for adults and children alike. We welcome proposals from researchers beyond the discipline of classics, including but not limited to cross-disciplinary submissions examining the intersections of play, education, antiquity and/or its reception. We welcome submissions of 300-word abstracts for 20 minute presentations.
Topics of interest include, but are not restricted to:
- Ways in which play has been, and is, employed or viewed differently by different sectors of society (adults/children, males/females, ethnic or regional variations
- Definitions of play in antiquity
- Play within economic contexts
- The role of play in forming social bonds
- Play in wider contexts of leisure and entertainment
- How games influence, and are influenced in turn by, ideas about Greece and Rome
- Play and games about the ancient world within educational contexts
- Boardgames both ancient and modern
- Video games incorporating classical themes and content
- The role of industry, crowd-funding and technology within ancient world game production and marketing.
- Theoretical and methodological considerations in studying the reception of play.
Abstracts should be sent by Friday 7th February to lisa.maurice@biu.ac.il. Decisions will be made and applicants notified by the mid-March.
Works cited
Carè, B. (2022) ‘Pavement Designs and Game Boards from Public Spaces of Ancient Athens: A Review Across the Board.’ Board Game Studies Journal 16(1), pp. 225-249.
Christesen, P. and Machado, D. (2010). ‘Video Games and Classical Antiquity.’ The Classical World, 104(1), pp. 107–110.
Dasen, V. and Vespa, M. (2021) ‘Ancient Play and Games: in Search of a Definition’, in Dasen, V. and Vespa, M. (eds.) Play and Games in Classical Antiquity: Definition, Transmission, Reception. Liège: Presses Universitaires de Liège, pp. 5-16.
Draycott, J. and Cook, K. (eds.) (2022). Women in Classical Video Games. London: Bloomsbury.
Forsyth, E. (2021) Learning through play: Games and crowdsourcing for adult education. Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services, 25(4), pp. 166.
Harrisson, J., Lindner, M., and Unceta Gómez, L. (2024) Playful Classics: Classical Reception as a Creative Process. London: Bloomsbury.
Ignatiadou, D. (2019) Luxury Board Games for the Northern Greek Elite. Archimède: archéologie et histoire ancienne, 6, pp.144-159.
Rollinger, C. (ed.) (2020) Classical Antiquity in Video Games. Playing with the Ancient World. London: Bloomsbury.
Talloen, P. (2018) ‘Rolling the dice: Public game boards from Sagalassos.’ Herom, 7, pp. 97-132.
Vandewalle, A. (2024). Video games as mythology museums? Mythographical story collections in games. International Journal of the Classical Tradition, 31(1), 90-112.
Zelinski, E. M., and Reyes, R. (2009) Cognitive benefits of computer games for older adults. Gerontechnology: international journal on the fundamental aspects of technology to serve the ageing society, 8(4), pp. 220-235.