Athens 2027 Update:
I have just returned from two weeks in Athens and it gives me great pleasure to confirm that the UKSA has officially secured the Panteion University as host for the 2027 UKSA Synaesthesia conference – provisional title:
“Syn-Aisthesis”
The Synesthetic Experience From Neural Pathways to Creative Expression
While in Athens, I attended a series of meetings with Argyro Vatakis, an experimental psychologist and associate professor for the Psychology Department at
Panteion University. Argyro is also director of the Multisensory and Temporal Processing Laboratory (MultiTimeLab).
Argyro completed her doctoral research with Professor Charles Spence at Oxford University, has contributed to “The Oxford Handbook of Synesthesia” and was the scientific editor during the translation into Greek of Professor Jamie Ward’s book “The Frog Who Croaked Blue”. Argyro and the Panteion are very keen to increase knowledge, general awareness and acceptance of synaesthesia in Greece and the rest of Southeast Europe.
In our meetings, we discussed the format and content of the event, potential keynotes, as well as experiencing the venue locations on offer, which I have to say, are the best I have ever seen in terms of space and on-site facilities.
I also investigated accommodation and local transport infrastructure, etc. and all are truly first class in every respect. Athens is an historic, vibrant and friendly city that is very simple to navigate, with easy access to a host of hidden gems alongside the well known ones.
The Panteion University is spectacular, and is just one Metro stop from the centre of Athens & the Acropolis, and the primary conference location has space for up to 400 attendees, which the Panteion will assist in pulling out all the stops to fill. We will also have the opportunity to set up “break out” rooms with video links to the main auditorium. The average temperature for Athens in May is a very comfortable 25 degrees Centigrade.
Greece is a brand new and exciting "market" for the international synaesthesia community and Athens presents a fantastic opportunity to increase international awareness and to forge and maintain new international connections.
Attached is a short video giving an initial flavour of what is on offer. Credits: JIW,
Panteion University & Alexandros Maragos.