Information

When:
Friday, 12 September 2025, 2:00 p.m. – Sunday, 14 September 2025, 4:30 p.m

Where: 
Department of Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, 
Rämistrasse 73, CH-8006 Zurich

Inquiries, contact, and registration (on-site or remote): 
ConnectingPillars@archaeologie.uzh.ch

The conference Connecting Pillars marks the first exchange of international researches in Classical Studies on the phenomenon of the ancient herm. It aims to explore the various manifestations of the herm form within antiquity's deliberately shaped visual culture from an interdisciplinary perspective. In a combination of specialist lectures and interactive workshops featuring discussants and contributors from a range of disciplines within the field of Classical Studies (Classical Archaeology/Image Studies, Ancient History/Epigraphy, and Classical Philology), participants will examine the media-specific and formal characteristics of this unique semi-figural artefact. The herm form, which has been omnipresent in the visual and textual culture of antiquity, continues to resonate to this day. 

The conference is organized by the Herm-Research-Network (Caterina Schorer, Universities of Zurich and Heidelberg | Antje-Sophie Menschner, University of Freiburg | Regina Hanslmayr, University of Zurich), and is hosted by the Division for Classical Archaeology of the Department of Archaeology with the support of Chair Prof. Dr. Corinna Reinhardt and in collaboration with the Zurich Center for the Study of the Ancient World (ZAZH).

Presentation will be held in both German and English. Students and other interested guests are warmly welcome. The lectures can also be followed online via Zoom. Workshops are held only on site, and we kindly ask participants to register in advance.

Students traveling to the conference from Switzerland or abroad may apply for a travel grant by submitting a CV and a letter of motivation to ConnectingPillars@archaeologie.uzh.ch by August 15, 2025.