2027 West Coast Plato Workshop

The 20th annual meeting of the WCPW will be held at the University of California, Davis, and will focus on Plato's Crito. The call for abstracts is open below; the full program and logistical details will follow here.

Illustration of Plato in sunglasses riding a bicycle along the UC Davis arboretum waterway, a copy of the Crito in his basket

The Meeting

Dates

Friday, May 14 – Sunday, May 16, 2027

Meeting Focus

The workshop will focus on Plato's Crito.

Author Meets Critics

The program will include an author-meets-critics panel on the latest book by Brad Inwood (Yale University), Plato's Crito, in the Cambridge Studies in the Dialogues of Plato series.

Organizers

Carlo DaVia, Jan Szaif, and Carey Seal (University of California, Davis)

Call for Abstracts

If you would like to present something on the Crito, please send a 500-word abstract for blind review to Carlo DaVia (cdavia@ucdavis.edu) by October 16, 2026.

Referees will seek coverage of different parts of, and themes from, the dialogue as they rank the abstracts. Accepted papers will receive commentators.

Serving as a Commentator

If you would like to serve as a commentator, please notify Carlo DaVia (cdavia@ucdavis.edu).

Timeline

  • October 16, 2026

    Deadline for submission of abstracts.

  • November 13, 2026

    Referee reports due.

  • November 24, 2026

    Authors notified.

  • March 1, 2027

    Completed papers (around 3,000 words) due to organizers and commentators.

  • May 14–16, 2027

    The workshop meets at UC Davis.

How to Get to the Workshop

University of California, Davis

The workshop will be hosted by UC Davis, in Davis, California, at the northern edge of the Central Valley.

Getting Here by Air

Recommended: Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is just 25 minutes from Davis.

Also within reach: the San Francisco Bay Area airports (SFO, OAK, SJC) are farther out but well connected to Davis.

Lodging and Local Tips

Hotel recommendations and local tips will be posted here closer to the meeting.

Questions

We hope to see many of you next year in Davis. For further questions, please contact Carlo DaVia (cdavia@ucdavis.edu), Jan Szaif (jmszaif@ucdavis.edu), or Carey Seal (cseal@ucdavis.edu).