2026 Ancient Philosophy Summer Program at the Center for Canon Expansion and Change

University of Minnesota Twin Cities, May 31 - June 6, 2026

CCEC Summer Program

The Center for Canon Expansion and Change (CCEC) seeks applications for participants in its 4th annual Summer Program, now funded by a $500,000 grant. Participants will take part in a week-long collaborative workshop, in which they learn about figures in an expanded canon of ancient philosophy and cutting-edge research on them; discuss inclusive, student-centered, and equitable pedagogy (with 2 sessions dedicated to teaching a predominantly white subject in predominantly white institutions); and collaboratively craft their own early modern course syllabus. After the workshop, participants and guides will meet regularly and continue to communicate as their courses (and future versions of it) are implemented. Participants will also receive an award from CCEC attesting to their experience with canon expansion and inclusive teaching.

Apply

DETAILS

  • The Summer program is scheduled to take place from May 31 to June 6, 2026, at the University of Minnesota.

    Participants will take part in a week-long collaborative workshop, in which they learn about figures in an expanded canon of ancient philosophy and cutting-edge research on them; discuss inclusive, student-centered, and equitable pedagogy (with two sessions dedicated to teaching a predominantly white subject in predominantly white institutions); and collaboratively craft their own ancient course syllabus.

  • The Center for Canon Expansion and Change will offer $400 toward toward airfare and will provide coverage of accommodation.

    Faculty members who are able to secure funding from their institutions should communicate this in the application. 

    Funding information will be shared with the selected participants.

  • If you have any questions about the program or would like additional information email ccec@umn.edu 

  • CCEC summer program is funded by a $500,000 grant: https://www.mellon.org/news/mellon-foundation-awards-14m-for-humanities-grounded-research

  • 1- Statement of interest (1 page outlining your interest in the program and how it connects with your research and/or teaching)

    2-Curriculum Vitae.

    The statement of interest and CV should be combined into a single .pdf file.

    We welcome applications from advanced graduate students and faculty members (contingent or permanent). We especially encourage applications from individuals of groups underrepresented in (Anglo-American) philosophy.

    Faculty members with institutional funding to participate should communicate this in the application. 

    Applications should be submitted by April 1, 2026.  Applicants will be notified of admissions decisions by April 31, 2026.

    Apply Here

CCEC Summer 2026 Organizing Team

  • Jessica Gordon Roth (Co-founder)

    Associate Professor of Philosophy, U of M

  • Dwight K. Lewis Jr (Co-founder)

    Assistant Professor of Philosophy, U of M

CCEC 2026 Ancient Philosophy Experts

  • Simon J Dutton

    (Emory University)

    Simon Dutton is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Emory University specializing in the history of Ancient Greek Philosophy (especially Plato). He reads Plato as a literary philosopher, attending to the use of narrative, imagery, and characterization in his interpretation of the texts. He has a lot of love for the erotic dialogues (and sex, gender, and sexuality in the ancient world), but finds himself writing almost constantly about Book I of the Republic.

  • Chelsea C. Harry

    (Southern Connecticut State University)

    Chelsea C. Harry is a Professor of Philosophy at Southern Connecticut State University and the founder of Philosophy in the Schools New Haven. She works on the philosophy of nature with specialties in ancient Greek philosophy, especially Aristotle, and late 18th-19th Century German thought, engaging historical texts to address contemporary problems like sustainability and climate change. Since 2018, she has been working to expand the philosophical canon, recovering and celebrating the perspectives of lost and marginalized voices.

  • Kris McLain

    (Pennsylvania State University)

    Kris McLain’s current work interweaves feminist methodology with the interpretation of texts by women philosophers from antiquity. Her book project considers the metaphor of Socratic midwifery as a formative and provocative model for collective knowledge creation when placed in conversation with reproductive justice theories. They also publish in teaching and learning scholarship. She will have a dual title PhD in Philosophy and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality studies in Summer 2025 and will be a teaching assistant professor at Marquette University starting in Fall 2025.