Plebeian: Journal of the Classics Students’ Union is an annual publication. The papers published in each volume have been presented at Undergraduate Conferences here at the University of Toronto.
Click here for videos of past talks.
Why Plebeian?
Undergraduate students are often seen as an anonymous crowd, a mass of bodies, numbers on an administrator’s computer screen, and are thus frequently overlooked when it comes to original ideas and research. Like the plebs of Ancient Rome and hoi polloi of Greece, we are many; nevertheless, we remain a vibrant community of explorers, thinkers, pioneers. This journal is so named in an attempt to reclaim this word of disdain for our own. Here, we proudly display our undergraduate research to those who might otherwise let it pass by, unnoticed.
Past Volumes (PDF):
Submit a Paper!
Submissions for Plebeian X are closed until Dec 1
Apply to be the Editor-in-Chief (EIC)
Applications for the EIC position are closed.
Apply to be Deputy Editor-in-Chief or Head Associate Editor
Applications for the Deputy EIC and Head Associate are closed.
Apply to be an Associate or Copy Editor
Applications for the Plebeian Volume X Editorial Board are closed.
Board Structure 2023-24:
Editor-in-Chief: Piper Hays
Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Emily Hart
Head Associate Editor: Tallulah Valliere-Paul
Associate Editors: Anoushka Banerjie, Julien Levit, Kate Levey, Madeleine Schmuckler, Maya Smart, Micah Heinricks, Zoe Peddle-Stevenson
Copy Editors: Elisa Penha, Marco Costantino
The roles and responsibilities of each position are outlined in the Plebeian Organizational Charter.
Past Conferences:
Click here to watch past conference presentations!
For last year’s conference schedule and topics, please see below.
2023: The Assembly of the Plebs IX, 18 March 2023, 10:00am-3:00pm, LI 220.
10:00–Room opens
10:20–Opening remarks
10:30–Laura Li, Wreath Meets World: The Intersection Between Archaic Athletic Prizes and Social Values
11:00–Anna Hurnanen, A Fool To Use: Piso And the Death of Germanicus
11:30–Jevan Konyar, From Prefect to Patriarch: The Egyptian Chalcedonian Church as a Mirror of Roman Civic Authority
12:00-12:45–Lunch
1:00–Behina Doroodgar, Madeleine Schmuckler, and Ben Pennell, Scholars Hate Her! Sulpicia the Satirist and the Question of Authorship in the Conquestia Sulpiciae
1:30–Piper Hays, Social Distancing: The Portrayal and Pollution of Death in Aeschylus’ Oresteia
2:00–Michelle Yoonseo Lee, Saturday Night Fever: Violence and Catharsis in the Bacchae and American Psycho
2:30–Izzy Friesen, Ruere Omnia Visa Repente: Earthquakes, Epic, and Environmental Trauma in Imperial-Period Literature
3:00–Closing Remarks
Past Editors-in-Chief
2023 (IX): Piper Hays
2022 (VIII): John Liao
2021 (VII): Leah Schweitzer Gukathasan
2020 (VI): Erica Venturo
2019 (V): Allison Suba
2018 (IV): Toby Keymer
2017 (III): Willem Crispin-Frei
2016 (II): Taylor Stark
2015 (I): Taylor Stark