Our mission

Symposia was founded by three Stanford students with a passion for Classics and the belief that early engagement with the ancient world– its literature, philosophy, and history– is fundamentally important for a secondary student’s education.

In our experience, the ancient world appeared briefly in a history or English class and disappeared just as fast. There were no national competitions, no celebrated showcases, no obvious next step for the student who finishes the Odyssey and wants more— until Symposia. We hope to provide a platform for the next generation of classicists, not just as a journal, but as proof that they are doing serious work, and that their voices should be amplified.

About the founders

A young woman and Stanford student with long black hair, wearing a white blouse with lace details, sitting at a dining table in a cozy restaurant. The background features a bookshelf with books, framed pictures, and a window with a small lamp.

Leila CADER

Leila Cader is a graduate student at Stanford studying Classics and Communications. She is a Latin Research Assistant for Stanford Professor Anna Gryzmala-Busse, intern at the Paideia Institute for Classical Education, and Editor at Aisthesis, Stanford’s Undergraduate Classics Journal. She is also a writing tutor and coach at the Concord Review (where she was published and awarded the Emerson Prize during her senior year of high school). Leila’s primary interests within Classics are its modern reception in digital spaces and early imperial Rome. 

Co-founder and Editor in Chief
Female Stanford student with curly hair wearing a navy blue dress with white lace details and red earrings, standing by a fountain with ornate sculptures in the background.

MAYA HAUSMAN

Maya Hausman is an undergraduate student at Stanford University studying Classics and Political Science, with honors in Ethics in Society. She is a Mining Justice Intern with Earthworks through the Stanford in Government program, a Latin Research Assistant for Stanford Professor Anna Gryzmala-Busse, and an Oral Communication Tutor at Stanford’s Hume Center for Writing and Speaking. Her honor’s thesis develops a kinship-based framework of land stewardship obligation, bringing Indigenous history and stewardship ethics into conversation with the Western philosophical canon. She is also the Executive Producer of the Stanford Shakespeare Company. Maya’s favorite field of classical study is Greek tragedy and ancient political thought. 


Co-founder and Managing Editor  
Co-founder and Communications Officer

YASMINE TOUBASSY

Yasmine Toubassy is an undergraduate student at Stanford University doing her major in Classics, with a focus in Ancient Greek literature and art. She currently works for Paideia Institute, a Classics education non-profit and is marketing her upcoming, Plato-inspired fantasy novel. She works in the Stanford University Archeology Center as an archival and curatorial intern where she is investigating a collection of Classical sherds with a mysterious history both before and once they came to Stanford. She is the social media manager for the Stanford Shakespeare Company, the Stanford Students Palestinian Association, and for her own book.