Tribute to Masaryk University

By any measure, the 25th Annual Congress of the Mediterranean Studies Association at Masaryk University in Brno, the Czech Republic, was a resounding success. From the gracious welcome of Dr. Irena Radová, dean of the university’s Faculty of Arts, to the generous feeding of our minds and bodies, overseen for the five days of the event by Congress President Dr. Katarina Petrovićková, Professor of Classical Studies at Masaryk University, this milestone congress was a rich reward for the dedication of MSA scholars to the field of Mediterranean studies.His Excellency Mr. Athanassios Paressoglu, Ambassador from the Hellenic Republic to the Czech Republic, phrased it eloquently in his remarks at the opening session of the congress: the Mediterranean is a space with many origins. We were fortunate to have Mgr. et Mgr. Tomás Weissar of Masaryk University’s Office of External Relations as our guide to Brno’s role in those origins, his walking tour of the city a reminder of the ways the Mediterranean reaches well beyond its shores.Thanks to Dr. Petrovićková’s students, Adéla Svobodová, Lenka Josefina Sládková, Eliška Bumbová, Veronika Nagyová, Martin Můčka, Jaroslav Herzig, Markéta Galbová, and Benjamin Juráň, conference attendees never lost their way to any of the seventy-nine congress presentations or lacked information on using the amazingly efficient trolley system in Brno. And who will ever forget the performance of pianist Eva Hubáčková, flautist Hana zemVlasáková, and violinists Kristýna Petrová and Kateřina Šrabalová, interpreters of the quartet Krásné ty země, v tobě i ve mně, composed especially for the congress by Matouš Dvořák? The poetic sentiment of that title, “Beautiful Lands in Your Hands and Mine,” brought us into the heart of the Czech Republic.The association could not have marked its twenty-fifth conference any more memorably than with these remarkable individuals. The MSA appreciates the courtesy and kindness shown to all of us during our stay in Brno. On behalf of our entire membership, I thank Masaryk University for opening its doors to us, and hope doors continue to open to conferences that bring scholars together to listen to, and learn from, each other.