International Plato Society, Newsletter 2010-2013, Issue 1 Pisa, November, 2010
Dear Colleagues,
It is an honour for me to warmly thank Shinro Kato and Noburu Notomi for their hospitality during the 9th Symposium in the week from the 2nd to the 7th of August in Tokyo at the Keio University: I would like to acknowlege them in this first Newsletter. We all enjoyed the perfect organization, the availability of the team to sustain our work every day with passion and competence. The week was really wonderful for the possibility we had to read the Republic of Plato, to share opinions and ideas, and to admire an important city with an extraordinary culture.
Tokyo General Assembly
On Wednesday, the 4th of August 2010, the General Assembly was held and on the agenda among the many items was the choosing of the President for the triennium 2013-2016, of the new representative for Europe and of the new representative for North America. The General Assembly decided to give Gabriele Cornelli and Francisco Bravo the responsability for the triennium 2013-2016 and for the Symposium after Pisa. It is a pleasure for me to wish them well in their work. Pisa and Brasilia, 2013 and 2016: surely, with a stop in Europe, there will be a common commitment to prepare a new surge into the world, especially in geographical areas that have a long and deep-rooted tradition in the studies of Plato and for a long time have been very important for the life of our Society.
For Europe Margaret McCabe was elected and Verity Harte for North America. My congratulations to them: I think that there will be a good dialogue and that Europe and North America will have a valid voice in the Executive Committee. Based on the decision taken in Dublin, I became President. Arnaud Macé and Maria Isabel Santa Cruz confirmed their availability to serve as representative for Europe and as representative for Latin America. Noburu Notomi and Shinro Kato remain on the Executive Committee with the role of Ex-President. Carlos Steel is the voice for the De Vogel Foundation, whose continuing support for the International Plato Society we truly appreciate.
Vice-President
A task that belongs to the President is the selection of a colleague from the Members of our Society as Vice-President. It is natural that the selection is a strong sign of a personal point of view. Perhaps everyone who has contact with Pisa, the way we work, the way we read Plato, does not ignore the fact that our perspective is a philological one, that emphasizes great interest in the literary component of the dialogue, in the reflection of Plato about the dialogue. At the
General Assembly I proposed Michael Erler as Vice-President. It would be impossible to offer his profile here. Author of the “Plato” for the Überweg-Series, Member of the Society from its foundation in Italy 21 years ago, President from 2001 to 2004, Michael Erler is now the Coordinator of our Editorial Board: I am sure that our cooperation will be harmonious and rich in results.
It is an honour for me to warmly thank Luc Brisson, who served as Vice-President from 1992 and who always assured us top scientific quality, diplomatic ability, and solid continuity in the relationship between geographical areas and different interpretations of Plato. We are in debt to him also for the precious bibliography and for editing the Proceedings since the 1995 Symposium in Granada, for many volumes of the Series, an impressive image of the history of the International Plato Society.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee for the triennium 2010-2013 consists of: Francisco Bravo, elected as the Next-President, Gabriele Cornelli, elected as the Next-President, Michael Erler, co-opted as the Vice-President, Verity Harte, elected for North America, Shinro Kato, Past-President, Arnaud Macé, confirmed for Europe, Margaret McCabe, elected for Europe, Noburu Notomi, Past-President, David Runia, confirmed for Africa, Asia and Oceania, Maria Isabel Santa Cruz, confirmed for South America, Carlos Steel, Representative of the Cornelia de Vogel Foundation, and Mauro Tulli, President.
The first Meeting was held at the end of the 9th Symposium, on Saturday, the 7th of August 2010, at 13.00, at the Faculty Club of the Keio University in Tokyo. Points of the agenda: Mid-Term Meeting, Advisory Board, Membership, Activities, and Financial Situation. The discussion was friendly and fertile, thanks to the new members immediate integration and to the concrete spirit of collaboration for the growth of the International Plato Society. The Executive Committee will soon deal with various issues via electronic communication. We hope all the members will participate in the activities we shall be planning. If you have any inquires or comments about the International Plato Society, please contact me or any one of the members of the Executive Committee: Francisco Bravo, fbravovi@yahoo.com, Gabriele Cornelli, gabriele.cornelli@gmail.com, Michael Erler, michael.erler@mail.uni-wuerzburg.de, Verity Harte, verity.harte@yale.edu, Shinro Kato, shinkato@bk9.so-net.ne.jp, Arnaud Macé, arnaud.mace@univ-fcomte.fr, Margaret McCabe, mm.mccabe@kcl.ac.uk, Noburu Notomi, notomi@z8.keio.jp, David Runia, runia@queens.unimelb.edu.au, Marita Santa Cruz, maritasantacruz@aol.com, Carlos Steel, carlos.steel@hiw.kuleuven.ac.be, Mauro Tulli, m.tulli@flcl.unipi.it.
Advisory Board
In Tokyo I suggested to include Luc Brisson on the Advisory Board, that is, to consider him as a precious, indispensable aid for the future of the International Plato Society and, in particular, for the preparation of the 2013 Symposium in Pisa. The General Assembly warmly approved and during the Meeting of the Executive Committee in Tokyo the decision was unanimously confirmed. John Dillon joined the Advisory Board as Ex-President for the triennium 2004-2007. The Advisory Board for the triennium 2010-2013 also consists of: Luc Brisson, co-opted, Tomás Calvo, Ex-President for the triennium 1992-1995, John Dillon, Ex-President for the triennium 2004-2007, Thomas M. Robinson, Ex-President for the triennium 1995-1998, Livio Rossetti, co-opted, Christopher Rowe, Ex-President for the triennium 1989-1992, Samuel Scolnicov, Ex-President for the triennium 1998-2001.
Membership
The conditions of membership for the International Plato Society remain as before. Scholars who have published one or more papers on Plato may apply for full membership, scholars with their dissertations in progress on Plato may apply for associate membership. To apply for full membership or for associate membership scholars are kindly requested to fill out the form they can find on the website and send it to the IPS Pisa office, Mauro Tulli, Dipartimento di Filologia Classica, Via Galvani 1, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.
For the triennium 2010-2013 I suggested maintaining the same membership fees established for the triennium 2007-2010: full membership 75 Euros / 100 USD / 50 £, associate membership 30 Euros / 40 USD / 20 £. For South America fees are reduced: full membership 30 Euros / 40 USD / 20 £, associate membership 15 Euros / 20 USD / 10 £. During the Meeting of the Executive Committee in Tokyo, after a short conversation I had with Gabriele Cornelli, David Runia suggested considering the removal of this particular condition in Pisa.
Already 50 scholars renewed the inscription directly in Tokyo. In any case, there will be the usual method of payment. Scholars are kindly requested either to send their fees by International Postal Money Order to the IPS Pisa office, Mauro Tulli, Dipartimento di Filologia Classica, Via Galvani 1, I-56126 Pisa, Italy, or to transfer their fees by International Bank Draft to “International Plato Society”, Banca di Credito Cooperativo Cascina, Filiale di Ghezzano, Pisa, Italy, IBAN IT20Q0845825300000000024239, SWIFT ICRAIT3FCQ0. Please remember that any charges must be paid by the sender. We cannot accept credit cards: the commissions for such bank transfer remain extremely high. In any case we would appreciate prompt regulation of membership fees.
Financial Situation
During the Meeting of the Executive Committee in Tokyo, Noburu Notomi informed us that the financial situation of the International Plato Society is positive and announced giving a
detailed report as soon as possible. International Plato Series
The composition of the Editorial Board, made up in Dublin, is valid for the triennium 2010-2013: Marcelo Boeri, mboeri@uandes.cl, representative for the Spanish language, Lesley Brown, lesley.brown@some.ox.ac.uk, representative for the English language, Louis-André Dorion, louis-andre.dorion@umontreal.ca, representative for the French language, Michael Erler, michael.erler@mail.uni-wuerzburg.de, representative for the German language, Franco Ferrari, fr.ferrari@unisa.it, representative for the Italian language.
Michael Erler, the present Coordinator, has indeed expressed the desire to concentrate his engagement on his new function as Vice-President. The Executive Committee will soon choose the representative for the German language area and will determine the new Coordinator.
The Editorial Board continues in the selection of books for our Series, which is living a particularly fertile moment. After the publication of the books by Alan Kim and Georgia Mouroutsou and the publication of the Dublin Proceedings, the Editorial Board has recently approved the monography by Annie Balansard on the Theaetetus and is now at work on the monography of Carolina Delgado on Plato and Poetry, on the monography of Emanuele Maffi on the Theaetetus and on the monography of Carlotta Capuccino on the proems. Members of the International Plato Society are kindly invited to submit manuscripts to the Editorial Board that can well prove the depth and the width of our research on Plato.
Plato Web
Debra Nails confirmed her availability to take care of the website, http://www.platosociety.org, at Michigan State University and after the Symposium in Tokyo she has already updated many items in close collaboration with the Executive Committee. Besides, she has sent to the members of the Executive Committee a detailed report on the activity of the website during the triennium 2007-2010. The website is especially useful in announcing conferences and other events of interest. We are also glad that the Plato Bibliography has received many visits. The website serves as a consolidated gateway to Internet Journal, “Plato”, and to our Series. But it has to be broaden the space reserved for the Members of the International Plato Society: the creation of a forum destined for the direct exchange of opinions is on the agenda. The Executive Committee is asking for specific attention in the preparation of a local report for the website about the tradition of Plato studies in each area.
Internet Journal
After many years of fertile engagement Dimitri El Murr completed his charge and during the General Assembly Francisco Gonzalez indicated his availability. The 10th issue has just come out and it is possible to consult it on the website or directly on http://gramata.univ-paris1.fr/Plato. Dimitri El Murr is now resigning the direction and Francisco Gonzalez takes over soon. With Olivier Renaut’s collaboration Dimitri El Murr sent the Executive Committe a technical note very important for the future of the Journal. During the first Meeting the Executive Committee expressed many thanks to Dimitri El Murr and their best wishes to Francisco Gonzalez.
According to the agreement stipulated in Dublin, the Internet Journal will gather sections on a fixed theme, probably every three years. But the Internet Journal remains an open platform for contributions on Plato.
Mid-Term Meeting
During the General Assembly Luc Brisson presented the proposal of hosting the Mid-Term Meeting in Paris for March or April 2012 and during the Meeting of the Executive Committee in Tokyo Arnaud Macé confirmed the proposal. Both the General Assembly and the Executive Committee have unanimously accepted and expressed many thanks to our French colleagues for their availability.
Regional Activities
During this triennium, small conferences on Plato will receive the backing from the International Plato Society. Those who plan such conferences are invited to contact the Executive Committee for further information: the main idea is to promote studies on Plato in different regions of the world. A condition is that at least some members of the the International Plato Society from different countries should read papers at the conferences. Information about them will be inserted on the website. The members of the Executive Committee confirmed in general the availability for backing regional conferences either in the form of support or in the form of endorsement.
The Mediterranean Area is at work on the organization of a Meeting on the Parmenides in Chania, Crete, in program from the 26th to the 30th of September 2011.
The Brazilian Plato Society, www.platao.org., is at work on the organization of a few conferences. In particular, Recife will be the site of a Meeting on the Symposium from the 16th to the 20th of May 2011, promoted by Anastácio Borges de Araújo and Gabriele Cornelli. Furthermore, Brasilia will be the site of a Meeting on Plato’s styles and characters from the 20th to the 24th of August 2012, promoted by Gabriele Cornelli, with the support of the Archai Group of Brasilia University, www.archai.unb.br.
10th Symposium
In the summer 2013, there will be our Symposium in Pisa. The first item is the choice of the week for the Symposium. We all know that in Italy summer can be cruel. But at the same time, in a small city with a large University the suspension of academic commitments determines a pause in the necessary services. Therefore, I think the best solution may be the last week in July, from the 22nd to the 27th. During the Meeting of the Executive Committee in Tokyo, I reported the first phases of the organisation and suggested the eventuality to dedicate one plenary session to each speech of the dialogue we chose as the theme in Dublin, the Symposium. Verity Harte proposed to notify this articulation already in the Call for Papers and Arnaud Macé suggested sending the Call for Papers after the Mid-Term Meeting in Paris, also after March or April 2012. Finally Michael Erler invited us to consider the hypothesis of a theatrical representation of the Symposium. I hope to prepare the best welcome possible for the members of the International Plato Society and to find the best solution possible of the many natural problems we will face.
Looking forward to hear from you, I am, Sincerely,
Mauro Tulli