Hannah Čulík-Baird and Joseph Romero, Co-editors’ Preface
Keywords: banking model, Classics teaching, conscientizaçao, critical pedagogy, Paulo Freire.
Abstract: This paper offers a critique of traditional Classics pedagogy which has been historically avoidant of pedagogical theories from other disciplines, such as Education. Resituating the bibliography of difficulty literature in Classics through the discursive frameworks of critical pedagogy advanced by scholars such as Paulo Freire, we examine Classics’ dependence upon a banking model of learning which positions students as empty vessels waiting to be filled by the authority of their teacher. Furthermore, we offer a critique of the prevailing pedagogical mode in Classics, which positions some students as the cause of “difficulty,” as a fundamentally managerial practice. Finally, we offer some reflections on the potential of conscientizaçao (“consciousness raising”) to chart a course for disciplinary change within Classics.
Kelly P. Dugan, Ancient Rhetoric, Abolition, and Reverend Peter Thomas Stanford’s The Tragedy (1897)
Keywords: Black literature, ancient rhetoric, Reverend Peter Thomas Stanford, Herodotus, Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Abstract: Following the efflorescence of scholarship on Black freedom narratives and activism, this article examines Reverend Peter Thomas Stanford’s The Tragedy (1897), an antilynching text which recounts a history of colonization and enslavement from the Mediterranean in the 7th century BCE to America in the late 19th century CE. Together with a study of the ancient discourses, Rev. Stanford’s work is here situated in the context of the white paternalism of British and American publishing during the late 19th century, with particular attention to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s preface to Stanford’s The Tragedy (1897). The article analyzes how Rev. Stanford uses ancient rhetoric to argue for the sanctity of Black life, including both classical and biblical references, concluding with reflections upon pedagogical applications as well as the need for further study.
Sportula Europe, Mutual Aid, Solidarity, and Classics in Higher Education
Keywords: microgrant organisations, mutual aid, solidarity, Sportula Europe.
Abstract: This paper describes the efforts of the microgrant organisation, Sportula Europe, to offer material support as well as the kinship of solidarity to historically-looted and marginalised communities within Classics. Contextualising our work within critical intellectual traditions and the history of mutual aid practices, we reflect upon non-hierarchical approaches to ameliorate the material conditions of students and researchers in our field.
Res Difficiles | Difficult conversations in classics 