GICS in dialogue

GIKS IN DIALOGUE is a series of meetings building on the GIKS Round Tables which aim to compare past and present through a number of broad themes. Today, the epistemological foundations of the study of antiquity—particularly Greek and Roman antiquity—are increasingly being called into question. Is it still possible to practise the discipline, that is, to teach ancient languages, literature, art, and history in the same way as was done in the past? The contemporary world is a site of conflict, but also of new ideas and opportunities, from which classical studies cannot remain detached.

GIKS in Dialogue aims to address topics that are relevant to the present day and to place them in dialogue or critical comparison with similar issues in the ancient world. The format brings together two speakers who are invited on the basis of the heterogeneity of their personal, intellectual, and research backgrounds.

GIKS in Dialogue will open on 11 May at 6:00 p.m. at De Krook with a discussion of Sophocles' Antigone. The speakers are writer Stefan Hertmans (currently writer in residence at Ghent University) and Marta Lietti, postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University, who has written a dissertation on Sophocles' play.

The Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, the Department of Literary Studies, and GIKS present “The Traces of Antigone – Stefan Hertmans and Marta Lietti in Dialogue with a Tragic Myth.” The event will take place at De Krook (Blauwe Vogel Hall) on 11 May 2026 at 6 p.m.

Follow writer Stefan Hertmans and classicist Marta Lietti (Freie Universität Berlin / UGent) on a fascinating journey in the footsteps of Antigone, the Greek tragic heroine who decides to bury her brother in defiance of King Creon’s prohibition. Her act of resistance continues to inspire thinkers and artists to this day.

Be enchanted by excerpts from the tragedy by Sophocles, performed by actors Naomi van der Horst and Timo Sterckx, and listen to the insights of our speakers Hertmans and Lietti. The evening will conclude with a discussion between the audience and the authors, moderated by UGent professor Christel Stalpaert (Theatre Studies).