Announcing Stoicon 2025

Modern Stoicism is pleased to announce that Stoicon 2025 will take place online on Saturday, October 18, from 10 am to 5 pm EDT (3 pm to 10 pm BST). Get your tickets (based on a donation amount of your choice) at our Eventbrite page.

Our wonderful lineup of presenters will be speaking on this year’s theme: engaged citizenship. Civic virtue, civil discourse, and other forms of engaged citizenship are more important now than ever, and we believe Stoic principles can contribute to flourishing societies and robust democratic processes. At Stoicon 2025 we will discuss important and timely issues such as:

• What did the ancient Stoics understand by engaged citizenship?
• How can we apply Stoicism to be good citizens in the 21st century?
• How can Stoicism help us engage wisely with our fellow citizens in the civic sphere, and what are the best ways of engaging with others?

This online event will include a mix of talks, panels, interviews, and lightning talks by leading scholars and Stoic practitioners from all over the world. Event highlights include:

What Can the Stoics Teach Us About Citizenship? – Mick Mulroy

Michael “Mick” Patrick Mulroy is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for the Middle East. As the DASD, he was responsible for defense policy for 15 countries and represented the Department of Defense of national policy in that area. He is also a retired CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer in the Special Activities Center and a United States Marine. He is a Senior Fellow for the Middle East Institute, an ABC News National Security Analyst, and a Co-founder of Lobo Institute.

Mick is a leading proponent of the U.S. military incorporating the Stoicism philosophy into their ethical and resiliency efforts officially. Mick is also on the board of advisors for Plato’s Academy in Athens, Greece.

Seneca and Nero: The Ultimate Test – James Romm

James Romm is an author, reviewer, and the James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Classics at Bard College in Annandale, NY. He specializes in ancient Greek and Roman culture and civilization. His reviews and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, the London Review of Books, the Daily Beast, and other venues. James has held the Guggenheim Fellowship (1999-2000), the Birkelund Fellowship at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars at the New York Public Library (2010-11), and a Biography Fellowship at the Leon Levy Center of the City University of New York (2014). His most recent book is Plato and the Tyrant: The Fall of Greece’s Greatest Dynasty and the Making of a Philosophic Masterpiece.

A Conversation with Brigid Delaney, hosted by Phil Yanov

Brigid Delaney is a speechwriter for Labor Minister, Katy Gallagher in the Australian Parliament. She was a journalist for The Guardian, and wrote popular weekly column, ‘Brigid Delaney’s Diary’, that was widely read in Australia, the US and the UK. She is the author of Reasons Not to Worry: How to Be Stoic in Chaotic Times―A Practical Guide to Stoicism for Self-Improvement and Personal Growth. Her other books include This Restless Life, Wild Things and Wellmania. She was the co-founder of the Mercy Campaign—an anti-death penalty movement—and the co-creator and associate producer of Netflix comedy Wellmania.

Phil Yanov is the founder of Tech After Five and a sought after voice in matters of personal technology, information security, and personal networking. He is a former co-host of the Your Day radio show heard on all NPR stations across South Carolina, a former columnist for Greenville Business Magazine, and a contributor to numerous stories on WYFF-TV, WSPA-TV, and other stations. Phil is also a public presenter, host and emcee for multiple companies and conferences, including Modern Stoicism events such as Stoicon and Conversations.

What Would a Stoic Say? Civil Discourse in an Age of Outrage – Diane Kalen-Sukra

Diane Kalen-Sukra is an author, speaker, and founder of Kalen Academy, a civic leadership institute. With a distinguished 30-year career, including as a municipal Chief Administrative Officer, she has led award-winning initiatives and is a trusted advisor to civic leaders. Her bestselling book Save Your City and her upcoming Lead with Civility champion a revival of civic values and education as the foundation for flourishing communities. Diane is a driving voice in advancing the global civility movement and recently hosted the inaugural Civility Summit for Civic Leaders, convening 500 leaders to address rising toxicity and renew civic culture. She also hosts the Cultivating Civility podcast, curates the Civic Wisdom newsletter, and speaks internationally on civility, civic culture renewal and topics related to the leadership and governance of cities.

The Stoic Tradition of Engaged Citizenship – Lisa Hill

Lisa Hill is a Professor of Politics at the University of Adelaide. She is Research Chair of the Centre for Public Integrity, the South Australian Convenor of the Electoral Regulation Research Network and Director of the Democracy, Security, Trust and Integrity Program at the Stretton Institute for Public Policy, University of Adelaide. Her current interests are in political theory, the history of political thought, electoral law and Australian politics. She was a Rhodes scholar and holds a DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford.

Panel: Reason in Society, hosted by Brittany Polat

Featuring William O. Stephens, Kelli Rudolph, Aldo Dinucci, and Jacob Klein

William O. Stephens is an American philosopher and scholar of Stoicism. He is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Creighton University after retiring from teaching at their Omaha Campus in 2020. His books on Stoicism include Marcus Aurelius: A Guide for the Perplexed; Stoic Ethics: Epictetus and Happiness as Freedom; and the forthcoming Marcus Aurelius: Philosopher-King.

Kelli Rudolph is a leading international expert in the history of philosophy. She is currently Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor) in Classics and Philosophy in the School of Classics, English and History. Before being jointly appointed to Philosophy and Classical and Archaeological Studies at the University of Kent, Kelli was an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) at Grand Valley State University and concurrently held a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. She served as Head of Classical and Archaeological Studies from 2020-2023 and sits on the Advisory Board for the Institute of Classical Studies. Dr. Rudolph is a fellow of the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, DC in 2024-2025 and will be taking up a Leverhulme Research Grant in 2025-2026.

Aldo Dinucci is a Professor of Ancient Philosophy at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (Brazil), and an Honorary Research fellow at the University of Kent (UK). He is also the Editor in Chief of Prometheus Journal of Philosophy and has published, among other books, translations from Greek to Portuguese of the Manual of Epictetus and Epictetus’ Discourses, Book 1.

Jacob Klein is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Colgate University (and visiting associate professor at Yale University in Spring 2026). His research focuses on ancient ethics and moral psychology. He is a co-editor, with Nathan Powers, of The Oxford Handbook of Hellenistic Philosophy.

Brittany Polat is a philosophical writer and community organizer. She is the author of multiple books on Stoicism, including Stoic Ethics: The Basics (with Christopher Gill) and Journal Like a Stoic. Brittany has organized and hosted multiple conferences on Stoicism and is the incoming editor of Stoicism Today.

Panel: Stoic Civic Engagement in Action, hosted by Gregory Lopez

Featuring Meredith Alexander Kunz, Allie Nava, Leonidas Konstantakos, and Ross Paton

Meredith Alexander Kunz is a writer and communications leader in Silicon Valley who serves as Head of Communications and Engagement at Adobe Research. She also writes and speaks on practical philosophy, including a highly successful Substack, The Stoic Mom. Her book Beyond Stoicism: A Guide to the Good Life with Stoics, Skeptics, Epicureans, and Other Ancient Philosophers, co-authored with Massimo Pigliucci and Gregory Lopez, was published in January 2025. (In the UK, the book was published as Live Like a Philosopher: What the Ancient Greeks and Romans Can Teach Us About Living a Happy Life.) Meredith is also I’m also a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), with an approach rooted in Stoic principles.

Allie Nava is the author of the survival adventure and modern tale of resilience and transformation against extraordinary odds, July and Everything After, which became a long standing top release, and was named a First Horizon Award Finalist, a distinction presented by the Eric Hoffer Book Awards to celebrate superior debut works, and a Hawthorne Prize Finalist, and named to the Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize Short List. She also has been a contributor to academic, trade, and policy publications, and was formerly a global writing advisor at Amazon. As an invited speaker, Allie has touched 1,000,000+ people through author events, ideas festivals, universities, company and board retreats, conferences like PEI, young professionals groups, tv, radio, and as an expert panelist for WNYC (The Brian Lehrer Show).

Leonidas Konstantakos is an international relations theorist specializing in Stoicism and just war theory.  He teaches in both the philosophy and international relations departments at Florida International University, the philosophy department at Miami Dade College, and teaches Ancient Civilizations and Debate at Archimedean Schools.  He is the co-author of Being Better: Stoicism for a World Worth Living In and is currently working on a new book on Stoicism and justice in conflict.

Ross Paton is a former counter-extremism practitioner and a National Security Masters graduate from Kings College London. Stoicism has helped Ross in his job, relationship and managing the challenges which come with being neurodivergent.

Gregory Lopez is the founder of NYC Stoics, co-founder and board member of The Stoic Fellowship, member of the Modern Stoicism team, co-host of Stoic Camp NY, and co-author of A Handbook for New Stoics (Live Like a Stoic in the UK) and Beyond Stoicism (Live Like A Philosopher in the UK). He is also politically active in New York State.

Get Your Tickets!

Be sure to reserve your tickets through the Stoicon 2025 Eventbrite page.  For those who register for the event but are unable to attend live, recordings will be available after the conference.

We look forward to seeing you there!