Symposium
Organized by
Waterloo Institute for Hellenistic Studies (WIHS) and University of Waterloo Classical Studies
Sponsored by
Waterloo Centre for German Studies (WCGS)
Co-sponsored by
WIHS and Classical Studies within the School of Social, Historical and Political Research
Hosted in
DRAGEN Lab, St. Jerome’s University College, University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario | October 19–20, 2026
Overview of the Symposium
The impact of the ancient Greeks and Romans on early modern German culture has been profound. In turn, German scholars made foundational contributions to the study of the ancient world, particularly during the “long nineteenth century.” These efforts not only elevated the study of antiquity to a scientific discipline—known as Klassische Altertumswissenschaften (Classical Studies)—but also helped establish History, Archaeology, Art History, Philosophy, Linguistics, and Literary Studies as independent fields of scholarship.
This symposium traces important stages in that intellectual and cultural exchange while highlighting the deep and lasting influence that the ancient world has had—and continues to have—within German society. Through twelve presentations delivered by leading scholars from Europe and North America, the symposium will examine the many ways in which Greek and Roman antiquity shaped German scholarship, literature, philosophy, art, politics, and cultural identity.
The event will engage faculty, students, and members of the wider community in reflecting upon the historical development of their own academic disciplines and the continuing relationship between scholarship and society. By encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue across the School of Social, Historical and Political Research and the School of Critical and Creative Humanities, the symposium aims to inspire new collaborations while making the enduring legacies of Greek, Roman, and German thinkers, writers, artists, and scholars more accessible to the public, including the German-Canadian community of the Kitchener–Waterloo region.
Angelica Kauffman (1741–1807), Erato, the Muse of Lyric Poetry (c. 1778). One of Kauffman’s many classical subjects celebrating the Muses and the enduring inspiration of Greek literature.
Anselm Feuerbach (1829–1880), Plato’s Symposium (1871–1874). Feuerbach’s celebrated interpretation of Plato’s Symposium, reflecting the enduring influence of Greek philosophy on nineteenth-century German art.
Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841), Greek Ideal Landscape (1823). An imagined classical landscape expressing the Romantic and Neoclassical fascination with ancient Greece.
Angelica Kauffman (1741–1807), The Judgement of Paris. A Neoclassical interpretation of one of the best-known myths from Greek mythology, illustrating the continued importance of classical themes in eighteenth-century European art.
Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein (1751–1829), Goethe in the Roman Campagna (1787). One of the defining images of German Classicism, depicting Johann Wolfgang von Goethe among the ruins of ancient Rome during his Italian journey.
Confirmed Presenters
The symposium will feature presentations by leading scholars from Canada, the United States, and Europe whose research explores the enduring relationship between Classical antiquity and German scholarship, literature, philosophy, archaeology, music, and visual culture.
Dr. Andreas Bendlin
Professor of Classical Studies
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Presentation: The Study of Ancient Religion in Nineteenth-Century Germany
Dr. Altay Coşkun
Professor of Classical Studies
Director, Waterloo Institute for Hellenistic Studies (WIHS)
University of Waterloo
Presentation: German Excavations in Ottoman Turkey
Dr. Hannah Eldridge
Professor of German Studies
University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
Presentation: Greek and Roman Traditions in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century German Literature
Dr. David Engels
Adjunct Professor of Ancient History and World History
Institut Catholique de Vendée, France
Presentation: "The Classical Paradigm: Antiquity and the Idea of Historical Totality in German Philosophy of History from Hegel to Heidegger"
Dr. Andrew Faulkner
Professor of Classical Studies
University of Waterloo
Presentation: New Philology from Lachmann to Wilamowitz
Dr. Sotera Fornaro
Professor of Greek Philology
University of Sassari, Italy
Presentation: The Development of Classical Scholarship in the German-Speaking World since the Eighteenth Century
Dr. Marina Gallagher
Lecturer in Music
Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo
Presentation: "An Obsession with the Past: Memory, Repression, and Revenge in Richard Strauss's Elektra"
Dr. Cordula Grewe
Professor of Art History
Indiana University Bloomington, USA
Presentation: Classical Reception in German Painting
Dr. Markus Hafner
Professor of Ancient History
University of Zürich, Switzerland
Presentation: "German Classical Scholarship's Journey into Dictatorship: The Gnomon Example, 1933–34"
Dr. Paul Malone
Associate Professor of German
University of Waterloo
Presentation: Antiquity in German Comics
Dr. Kristine Palmeri
Historian of Science and the Humanities in the German- and English-Speaking World since 1700
PhD, University of Chicago
Humboldt Fellow, Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich
Presentation: Presentation title to be announced.
Full Conference Description
German scholarship and the Klassische Altertumswissenschaften (Classical Studies) have been so deeply interwoven that the discipline would be scarcely recognizable today without Germany's contributions. The archaeologist and art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann coined the notion of the "Classical"; Theodor Mommsen remains one of the most prolific historians of all time, and Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff is widely regarded as one of the greatest Greek philologists in history.
The enduring fascination with ancient Greece profoundly shaped German intellectual and cultural life. Through their engagement with Greek antiquity, philosophers such as Friedrich Schleiermacher, Immanuel Kant, G. W. F. Hegel, and Friedrich Nietzsche developed influential philosophical systems that continue to shape modern thought. Likewise, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller would scarcely have become the "Classics" of German literature without their deep immersion in the ancient authors, whose influence also inspired poets such as Friedrich Hölderlin and Rainer Maria Rilke.
The nineteenth century also witnessed the rise of German Philhellenism. Support for the Greek War of Independence against Ottoman rule coincided with liberal movements throughout the German states, while the flourishing of the neuhumanistisches Gymnasium placed the study of Greek and Latin at the centre of education. Heinrich Schliemann's excavations at Mycenae and Troy rekindled international fascination with Homeric epic and Mediterranean archaeology, while Gustav Droysen's interpretation of Alexander the Great profoundly influenced modern understandings of the Hellenistic world. Later, Oswald Spengler's The Decline of the West drew heavily upon the history of the Roman Empire in developing his philosophy of civilization.
Following the darkest chapters of twentieth-century German history, scholarship once again turned to the democratic traditions of ancient Greece, helping to reaffirm one of the intellectual foundations of modern participatory societies. The relationship between antiquity and German culture has therefore remained dynamic, continuously shaping both academic inquiry and broader public discourse.
The Waterloo Region—often regarded as the centre of German immigration to Canada—provides a particularly appropriate setting for this symposium. Mennonite settlers established German communities here during the nineteenth century, later joined by refugees displaced during and after the Second World War, as well as numerous scholars recruited by the University of Waterloo. Today, the University's Faculty of Arts is home to two internationally recognized research centres: the Waterloo Centre for German Studies (WCGS) and the Waterloo Institute for Hellenistic Studies (WIHS).
Together, these institutions place the University of Waterloo in a unique position to explore the many intersections between the ancient Greek and Roman worlds and early modern Germany. By bringing together internationally recognized scholars in Classical and German Studies, the symposium seeks to illuminate the remarkable intellectual legacy that emerged from this dialogue while strengthening connections between the University and the wider Waterloo Region, including its vibrant German-Canadian community.