Hosted by the Centre for Greek Studies and the A.D. Trendall Research Centre for Ancient Mediterranean Studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, this conference will focus on the movement of people and interactions of culture in the region of Southern Italy and Sicily from antiquity until the present. The conference will run between 17th and 21st July 2012. This inter-disciplinary conference seeks to foster critical analysis of geographical and chronological interconnections in Southern Italy and Sicily. Consideration of cultural interaction, population movements, and changing religious and philosophical ideas over a period of approximately 3000 years will prompt scholarly discussion around continuity and change over time in this region of the Mediterranean.

Confirmed Keynote Speakers:
- Professor David Abulafia , Professorial Fellow of Gonville and Caius College and Professor of Mediterranean History at Cambridge University
- Professor Roger Wilson, Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire and Director of the Centre for the Study of Ancient Sicily in the Department of Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies at the University of British Columbia
- Associate Professor Mia Fuller, Associate Professor of Italian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Papers that focus on the region of Southern Italy and Sicily are invited from any discipline. Please submit abstracts no longer than 300 words to Sarah Midford at s.midford@latrobe.edu.au before 6th February 2012. Papers will be programmed into 30 minute timeslots and should be no longer than 20 minutes. 10 minutes will be scheduled for questions. Graduate student papers are most welcome. Some themes may include, but are not limited to:
- the ancient Greeks in South Italy and Sicily
- the Romans in South Italy and Sicily
- Greek and Roman Culture in South Italy and Sicily
- Sicily’s place in relation to South Italy
- Migration to and from South Italy and Sicily
- Islamic rule in South Italy and Sicily
- Colonisation in South Italy and Sicily
- Spain and Southern Italy and Sicily
- Trade between South Italy and other states and Sicily

For more information about this even contact Sarah Midford (s.midford@latrobe.edu.au).

The conference will include a tour of the local wine country, a conference dinner in Melbourne’s ‘Little Italy’ as well as other functions related to the conference. Information regarding conference registration and accommodation will be added to this website very soon.