Classical Studies Support is back from a Christmas break – which somehow managed to be more tiring than work – and resuming the regular Weekend Reading schedule. This week there’s been a great deal of drama and in-fighting, combined with a large helping of concern over the future of Classics. Who needs Eastenders when you have Classics?!
This week’s big Classics controversy kicked off at the American mega-conference of the AIA and SCS (archaeology and classics, respectively). Naturally I wasn’t there (nobody’s going to pay to fly me to San Diego, sadly!), but there was a great deal of very useful live-tweeting from some of the attendees (links below, if you’d like to take a look at some of the panels).
The AIA side of the conference seemed to focus on archaeological discoveries and developments, while the Classics side was dominated more by Classics-related meta-issues, with panels discussing the future of Classics, the composition of Classics and the ways in which Classics provision can be opened up and extended. Some concern was expressed, both through the Future of Classics panel and in Mary Beard’s TLS article, that this meta-focus on the survival of Classics as a discipline could be seen as a bad sign.
However, there were worse signs about the future of Classics, which emerged as the conference progressed. Attendees were deeply distressed by discrimination – both verbal discrimination, in racist and sexist remarks made to speakers by other classicists, and practical discrimination, when two award-winning members of the Society for Classical Studies (and people of colour) videoed their interrogation by a member of the hotel staff. Further controversy was stirred up by an anonymous article published on Medium about the commitment of Mary Beard (the plenary speaker) to feminism in particular and social justice more widely. It was not just the content of the article that polarised views, but also the anonymity of the writer, with some scholars arguing that ad hominem attackers shouldn’t hide behind anonymity, while others argued that anonymity is an essential protection for anyone at a vulnerable stage in their career.
So it’s been a disturbing week, stirring up dislike and disgust. Twitter has been in an uproar, complaints have been made, and action has been taken by the SCS committee. Not everyone had an unpleasant experience, of course: there were enough enthusiastic reports coming from attendees to make me jealous! But the drama and controversy raised serious questions – about the future of Classics, and also about whether everyone is looking to the same future.
If you’d like to find out more…
Report on racist comments – Inside Higher Ed
…followed up by an article written by the speaker who was targeted – Medium
… and an article summarising the points made by several attendees – The Chronicle
… and a letter from the President of the SCS
Collection of live tweets – Twitter Moments
…and some materials from Amy Pistone
…and a great talk by Sarah Parcak published on Medium
Mary Beard on the US mega-conference – A Don’s Life
… and a provocative anonymous article on Mary Beard – Medium
What a way to start the New Year! But I’d like to wish you all a happy new year anyway: hopefully things will start to look up eventually! And if you’re based in the UK and you’d like to see how a conference works (not all of them are quite so vicious!), ‘early bird’ booking is now open for the UK’s big Classics conference, being held in London this year. Students are welcome there, and the concessionary fees are not bad: so if you fancy a few days in London with a boat-load (literally) of classicists in the summer, do take a look!
FIEC/CA 2019 – early bird bookings now open
This week’s other Classics-related links
From Classical Studies Support
Baby Brain to PhD, by Rhian Williams
News
Reassessing museum collections – The Telegraph
When is a vase not a vase? – The Art Newspaper
Snow called Telemachos – Reuters
Decapitated corpses – Archaeology
Comment and opinion
Professor Porson’s pigs – The Edithorial
Ovid’s angry birds – In Medias Res
Being possessive about wine – Bible History Daily
2018 on the Sphinx – The Sphinx
Read the Iliad to your kids? – The Federalist
Sparta for kids – The Conversation
Not knowing Greek – The New Yorker
Fantasy and historical fiction – Reboot the Past
Writing technology and classical thinking – Phys.org
Power and architecture – Ancient Origins
Juvenal’s chariots of ire – The Conversation
Dealing with anxiety, Roman style – The Daily Beast
Museums and the history of sex – Notches Blog
The Thucydides virus – The Sphinx
Why we shouldn’t admire Augustus – The Conversation
Wandering wombs and bad smells – The History Girls
Delphic maxims – Aeon
Livia in I, Claudius and The Sopranos – USA Today
Podcasts, video and other media
The relevance of Antigone – BBC Ideas
Modern Olympians – That’s Ancient History
Cinna, Cicero and baldness – Emperors of Rome
Agrippina and the wolf girl – Ancient History Fangirl
Silly ancient beliefs – BBC Ideas
On racism in Classics – Itinera
Antiochus the Great and his son – Ancient World Podcast
Fancy a trip to Edinburgh? Tickets available for lectures on Hadrian’s Wall
Classical Studies Support 
I was following the live tweeting from the conference quite closely and I have to say that there was a lot of really interesting material! I was honestly shocked at the racist outburst from one particular Classicist. Call me naive but I really didn’t think such opinions existed in the mainstream and that they were limited to the fringes of Classicism, unfortunately this is apparently not the case. On another note, I haven’t seen Mary Beards lecture (I know it’s expected to be available online soon) but it’s surprising to see so many people jumping on the band wagon to criticise her based on hearsay. I can’t comment as I’ve yet to watch the lecture, but will do so as soon as it’s available.
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Yes – Mary Beard has certainly been encouraging people to watch her talk before they jump to conclusions. I’ll be keeping an eye out for it too!
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Hi Cora Beth,
Happy New Year!
I’ve booked onto the London conference and am now suffering imposter syndrome for the first time in my life. Gosh you do learn a lot on a classics degree…
Have lost a lot of time with a stressful house move. Looking to finish the archaeology block next week and then immerse myself in the critical review.
Best wishes
Klara
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