ccb 11.9

October 21 and 22 (Friday / Saturday)
hosted by the Department of History and Classics
Acadia University
Wolfville, Nova Scotia B4P 2R6
This meeting will be placed under the rubric of "Classical Studies and the Social Sciences."

The key-note speaker will be Professor Robert Prus of the Department of Sociology at the University of Waterloo. Dr Prus has numerous publications (including several books) to his credit. Some of these set out the theoretical and methodological foundations of the influential Symbolic Interactionist School of sociology (sometimes referred to as the Chicago School), while others present the results of his field work in contemporary Canadian society in which he has followed the strong ethnographic tradition, established by the Chicago School, of doing social science. More recently, Professor Prus has become keenly interested in the Greco-Roman antecedents of Western social thought, in particular those that anticipate the themes of intentionality, agency, and intersubjectivity foregrounded by the Symbolic Interactionists. His key-note address will explore this subject.

Papers that reflect the social-science emphasis of the conference, as well as other papers on diverse subjects in the study of Greco-Roman antiquity, are cordially invited.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts as well as additional information about the conference will be sent out later. Initial enquiries may be directed to Vernon Provencal <vernon.provencal@acadiau.ca> or Beert Verstraete <beert.verstraete@acadiau.ca>

The Greek Studies Chair at the University of Missouri - St. Louis is pleased to announce a new Semester-in-Greece Program (offered for the first time in Winter 2006; cost US$5750 per student, includes accommodation, all travel to archaeological sites and museums, and tuition fees for 12 cr. hs.). If you know students who might be interested in applying, please direct them to the website of the Program for more information: http://www.studyingreece.org

The Minister of Education, New Zealand, has announced a significant change to the tuition fees regime for international PhD students. From 1 January 2006, any new international PhD student will be accorded domestic status for purposes of tuition fees. The same status will be accorded to their dependants at school. French and German students are already considered as domestic students so this opens it up to the rest of the world.

At the same time, the Minister of Immigration has announced several changes to immigration policy which will make it easier for international students to work and study in New Zealand. For instance:

• International students will be able to apply to work for up to 20 hours a week during term, instead of the current 15 hours

• Anyone undertaking a course of 12 months or more will be able to apply to work full-time over the summer holidays

• Partners of students studying in areas of absolute skill shortage and partners of all postgraduate students will be able to apply for an open work permit valid for the duration of the student's course of study.

Please note that there is a condition attached to the domestic status of new international PhD students, namely that the Vice-Chancellor of the enrolling institution will have "to certify that the student's PhD supervisor is a leading researcher in that student's chosen field of study and is able to give appropriate supervision, and that the student has been subject to the university's admission regulations and deemed appropriate." This has been committed to writing in a letter to the Minister signed by the Vice-Chancellors of all New Zealand's universities.

Also related to international PhD students, the Prime Minister has announced details of the government's New Zealand International Doctoral Research Scholarship scheme for the 2006 intake of students. The number of scholarships on offer will double from 20 in 2005 to 40 in 2006.

The Literary Encyclopedia <http://www.LitEncyc.com> is looking for one or more senior classicists to join its editorial board and develop coverage of Latin and Greek literature and culture. The Literary Encyclopedia has been developing since 1998 and is now one of the most widely read and prestigious literary resources on the internet. It generally features on pages 1-3 of any Google search list for literary authors, comprises over 5m words written by over 1000 university scholars, and works to the highest scholarly and technical standards. It is also most unusual in being a scholarly co-operative, owned entirely by its authors and editors. It already has excellent coverage of writing in English, German, French and Russian and expects this year to have around 8m page visits. Its global impact is sure to grow and grow. Editors are entitled to 10% of the equity and revenues of entries contributed. Interested scholars are requested to email a short CV to RobertClark@LitEncyc.com.