KU Leuven, 12–13 March 2026

Day 1: Thursday, 12 March, HIW Raadzaal, 01.16
08:30–09:10 | Welcome Coffee and Opening Remarks

Morning Session
09:10–12:30 | Chair – Joseph Verheyden

09:10–10:00
Augustine against Philosophical Paganism in Different Media: Books, Letters, Sermons
Christian Tornau (University of Würzburg)

10:00–10:50
Anti-Platonic Platonic Dialogues: Gregory of Nyssa and Aeneas of Gaza on Resurrection
Bert van den Berg (University of Leiden)

10:50–11:10 | Coffee Break, HIW room S, 01.14

11:10–12:00
L’Enjeu des Mythes Absurdes dans la Polémique entre Païens et Chrétiens
Adrien Lecerf (CNRS – Centre Léon Robin)

12:00–12:30 | General Discussion

12:30–14:00 | Lunch Break, HIW room S, 01.14

Afternoon Session
14:00–18:10 | Chair – Miriam Cutino

14:00–14:50
Purpose and Function of Rhetorical Devices in Theological Discourse: A Comparison between
Proclus and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
Michele Abbate (University of Genova)

14:50–15:40
A Vivid Imagination against the Pagans: The Appropriation of Enargeia in Late-Antique Latin
Sermons
Christina Turner (KU Leuven)

15:40–16:00 | Coffee Break, HIW room S, 01.14

16:00–16:50
From Refutation to Insult: On Philoponus’ Rhetoric in His Treatises against Aristotle and against
Proclus
Marc-Antoine Gavray (University of Liège)

16:50–17:40
Polemical Du Stil in Ambrose of Milan: The Case of the Hexameron
Pietro Fusco (Université de Strasbourg)

17:40–18:10 | General Discussion

19:30 | Conference Dinner

Day 2: Friday, 13 March, HIW, Raadzaal, 01.16
Morning Session
09:00–13:10 | Chair – Pieter d’Hoine

09:00–09:50
Hypatia in Synesius’ Last Letters: Christian vs Platonic Virtue?
Irini Fotini Viltanioti (University of Crete)

09:50–10:40
The Rhetoric of Macarius Magnes
Mark J. Edwards (University of Oxford)

10:40–11:00 | Coffee Break, HIW, Salons, 00.02

11:00–11:50
The Barbarian Laughs Back: Humour and the Undoing of Greek Paideia in TaWan
Sabrina Inowlocki (University of Jerusalem)

11:50–12:40
Artful Ambiguity: Celsus’ Strategic Exaggerations and Imprecisions
Kasra Abdavi-Azar (KU Leuven)

12:40–13:10 | General Discussion

13:10–14:30 | Lunch, HIW, Salons, 00.02