GRST 281 - Black Classicisms and the Human(ities)

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

(Same as AFRS 281 and ANAS 281) “The Classics” have long been associated with elite educational institutions and constructions of “Western civilization” that, at their worst, provide a thin veil for white supremacy. South Carolina Senator and eventual Vice President John C. Calhoun once claimed that if somebody could find a Black man who understood Greek, then he might at last believe that that man “was a human being and should be treated as a man.” In his account of escaping enslavement, Samuel Ringgold Ward counters Calhoun by pointing to a Roman African author, asking, “Was Terence, the black poet, a gentleman?” At stake in the gatekeeping of the Greek and Roman past is the definition of what it means to be truly human and, as a result, who the humanities are for. In this course, we explore the rich history of Black writers from the eighteenth century to the present day who have reclaimed and reimagined Greco-Roman antiquity. Pairing selections from ancient Greek and Roman texts with readings from authors including Phillis Wheatley Peters, Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Morrison, and Rita Dove, we trace the lives and afterlives of mythological figures like Niobe and Medea. Drawing on the work of poets, novelists, critics, and a range of other thinkers, we ask: How have Black writers complicated and refined ideas of the human and the humanities in light of the classics? Who has gotten to define “The Classics” in the United States? What kinds of capital are at play when someone alludes to Homer, Ovid, or Terence? How have Black classicist authors reimagined ancient Greek and Roman texts? Rachel Morrison.

Prerequisite(s): One course in GRST or one course in AMST or one course in AFRS or permission of the instructor

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS