The 3rd Student Forum of Classical and Humanistic Studies is held in the Centre for Classical and Humanistic Studies (CECH), a Research & Development Unit at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra (FLUC). The main theme of this Forum centres around Classical Studies, cultural heritage of humanity, which delve into the classical matrix during its long lifespan. The studies conducted in CECH are built upon foundational pillars such as Greco-Latin Studies and Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Their research extends to Classical and Portuguese Cultural Heritage, namely in the fields of Reception Studies, Food Heritage, and Musical Collections. Literature, Philosophy, Ancient History, and Archaeology complete the repertoire of humanist research promoted by CECH.
This way, we are a centre of interdisciplinary studies. Now, as we convene for our 3rd Student Forum, and some of our history must be highlighted. In 2010, CECH promoted the Opera in Fieri initiative for the first time. This initiative had as a primary goal the launch of an arena for debate where young researchers could discuss their work progress. While it was primarily aimed at researchers within Classical Studies, the goal was always to promote interdisciplinary discussion. This way, proposals related to other fields of study were accepted, provided they were within the conceptual and historical limits of the so-called “Ancient World”. The last edition took place in 2017, in a co-organization between CECH and Origem da Comédia, the youth section for the Portuguese Association for Classical Studies. Embodying the spirit that led to the creation of the Opera in Fieri initiative, the 1st Student Forum of Classical and Humanistic Studies emerges in 2022. Building on its legacy, the forum proudly entered its second edition in 2023.
Every passing year, the growing importance of this gathering becomes ever clearer, mostly due to its own configuration as a means to foster dialogue between students and inspire them. Thus, we chose as representatives of this edition the Goddess of Eternal Youth Hebe, as a symbol of our youthful vitality, and Cicero, who reveals to us the value of intellectuality and knowledge.
The Executive Board of the forum is made up of students pursuing their master’s or doctoral degrees in Classical Studies at FLUC, their foremost promoters. As students and researchers, much of our intellectual labour consists of making “discoveries”, formulating ideas, and tying them all together in coherent, logical speeches. In reality, we keep devising explanatory hypotheses of what we observe. Each of us has their “theses” to defend before professors and peers alike. Before we reach our doctoral studies, we live through different experiences of writing “theses”, both while pursuing our master’s degrees and while working on more laborious tasks during our bachelor’s degrees. This is why our Student Forum is an inclusive space, devised to foster dialogue between scholarly projects at various stages of formation and research!