He Wants to Save Classics from Whiteness. Can the Field Survive?
Rachel Poser, New York Times, February 2, 2021
In the world of classics, the exchange between Dan-el Padilla Peralta and Mary Frances Williams has become known simply as “the incident.” Their back-and-forth took place at a Society of Classical Studies conference in January 2019 the sort of academic gathering at which nothing tends to happen that would seem controversial or even interesting to those outside the discipline. But that year, the conference featured a panel on “The Future of Classics,” which, the participants agreed, was far from secure. On top of the problems facing the humanities as a whole vanishing class sizes caused by disinvestment, declining prominence and student debt classics was also experiencing a crisis of identity. Long revered as the foundation of “Western civilization,” the field was trying to shed its self-imposed reputation as an elitist subject overwhelmingly taught and s
A ‘Prince’ investigation has uncovered allegations that Katz, a classics professor who spent more than two decades at the University, crossed professional boundaries with three of his female students.
New York Times Magazine:
Dan-el Padilla Peralta thinks classicists should knock ancient Greece and Rome off their pedestal even if that means destroying their discipline.
iSteve commenter kaganovitch observes, “This chain migration from Krypton has to stop. At this point they are really not sending their best.” By Rachel Poser
Feb. 2, 2021
In the world of classics, the exchange between Dan-el Padilla Peralta and Mary Frances Williams has become known simply as “the incident.” Their back-and-forth took place at a Society of Classical Studies conference in January 2019 the sort of academic gathering at which nothing tends to happen that would seem controversial or even interesting to those outside the discipline. But that year, the conference featured a panel on “The Future of Classics,” which, the participants agreed, was far from secure. On top of the problems facing the humanities as a whole vanishing class sizes caused by disinvestment, declining prominence