Introduction

The University of Florida Classics Graduate Student Symposium is organized and hosted by graduate students from the University of Florida’s Classics Department. Initially under the supervision of Dr. Eleni Bozia and currently under the supervision of Dr. Victoria Pagán, and with the generous support of the Rothman Endowment from the Classics Department and the Center for Greek Studies, we pose questions and invite graduate students to consider and debate topics that push the boundaries of our field in an attempt to interpret antiquity, modernity, and the intersection between the two from our contemporary perspectives. Since the symposium’s inception in October 2017, we have welcomed graduate students from North America, Europe, and Asia to engage in and enrich these debates. Our global participants, who bring with them an array of interdisciplinary viewpoints, research interests, and expertise across the humanities, are invited to illuminate aspects of the Greco-Roman world as well as debates centering on current social, political, and cultural issues.