ISAW Graduate Student Conference: Assembling the Ancient World: Comparative Approaches to Urbanism and Colonization

'I Saw the Future of the Past' Graduate Conference Series

Assembling the Ancient World: Comparative Approaches to Urbanism and Colonization
March 8th – 9th, 2027

Keynote: Dr. Sören Stark, "A Tale of Many Cities. Reconsidering Urbanism in Central Eurasia" 

Due to the partial nature of our sources for the study of the ancient world, studies of ancient urbanisms and colonialisms inevitably struggle with incomplete and contradictory material. This multidisciplinary conference seeks to provide a space for the discussion of the phenomena of ancient urbanisms and colonialisms and to support the fruitful development of methodologies to help close the gaps in the material. One such method is to use comparative approaches to shore up gaps in datasets and use the better-known, and allegedly similar, contexts to shed light on the more obscure ones. We are excited to explore the strengths and weaknesses of the comparative approach, although we also welcome the presentation of alternate methodologies. We have chosen to discuss urbanism and colonialism together in the hopes that we will spark conversation and active collaboration between graduate students studying these related topics of the ancient world.

With this call for papers, we invite graduate students working in all areas of ancient world studies. Following the mission of ISAW as an institution fostering interconnectedness, we especially invite those working outside of the Mediterranean in the hopes of embracing a truly diverse geographic scope. The conference will be organized around several panels of related abstracts, with a following discussion among panelists. Students working in all topics related to urbanism and coloniality in the ancient world are invited to apply, and we are particularly excited to welcome abstracts which address the following topics:

• Comparative approaches to urbanism and colonialism
• Geography and landscapes
• Architecture and the construction of space
• Historiographies of coloniality
• Personhood, agency, and identity

The conference will be hosted in person at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, in New York City. Submissions are open to graduate students at any level. Each presenter will have 20 minutes to speak. Abstracts should be no more than 250 words. Priority will be given to in-person presentations.

Please email your submissions as PDFs to isawstudentconference@gmail.com by November 23rd, 2026. Applicants will be notified by December 20th, 2026.