The International Plato Society has yet to meet in the United States.  I propose that Symposium XIII take place in Athens, Georgia in 2022.

There is much more than the name to recommend Athens. Known as the “classic city,” it is the home of the University of Georgia, the nation’s oldest land grant institution, as well as a vibrant arts and alternative music scene and some nationally recognized restaurants. The campus is beautiful, and Athens itself is a pleasant college town with attractive, older neighborhoods. In many ways it is more representative of the United States than the large cities that many visitors often see exclusively. The University has excellent facilities: we will use modern, air conditioned lecture halls on campus. Hopefully, it will be possible to arrange for conference participants to enjoy the University’s acoustically excellent concert hall. There are an abundance of hotels near campus, most moderately priced.  All in all, Athens is very nice place to hold the Symposium.

Professors Richard Parry (Agnes Scott College) and Richard Patterson (Emory University) have graciously offered to help organize the conference, and all of us will be drawing on our experience organizing the interim International Plato Society conference in Atlanta last year. For many years now the three of us as well as others in the Atlanta area have met regularly to read and discuss each Platonic dialogue that was to be the subject of the next IPS symposium. So there is a core of Plato scholars in the Athens area, and they are likely to want to help with arrangements. The University of Georgia provided significant financial support for the interim IPS conference and some surrounding events that took place on the UGA campus. There is good reason to expect that the University will also support a major Symposium on its own campus.

Athens is readily accessible from the Atlanta airport by an hourly shuttle. Atlanta is a major hub for air travel within the US, and there are many direct flights to it from outside the US.

Near to Athens is a well-preserved ante-bellum town, Madison; and Athens is a relatively short distance from the scenic north Georgia mountains and from the Ocmulgee American Indian mounds. It is a longer drive to the historical cities of Savannah and Charleston and to the beaches and islands of the coast.

Edward Halper

Distinguished Research Professor

Department of Philosophy

University of Georgia