Black Classicism in the United States

Black Classicism in the United States

Michele Valerie Ronnick (Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Wayne State University)
January 19, 2017 / 6:00 PM
Art Design and Architecture Museum

For many years only well-born Americans had access to a classically–based liberal arts education. But after the Civil War newly freed slaves aspired to the same. Thus arose black classicists who studied and taught Greek and Latin successfully in an era when few believed that black people could or should.

Michele Valerie Ronnick is a Professor at the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Wayne State University, and Curator of the exhibition ’14 Black Classicists’ which will be on at the ADA Museum and the UCSB Library from Jan 14th to April 30th.

Sponsored by the Departments of Classics and Black Studies, the Hellenic Studies Committee, the Argyropoulos Endowment in Hellenic Studies, and the IHC’s Slavery, Captivity, and the Meaning of Freedom RFG.