Revised 3/19/21
Violence, harassment, and discrimination against Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders have all been increasing over the past year. The shootings this week in Atlanta of six Asian women have brought discrimination and hate, and in particular gendered racism, against members of Asian communities in the US to the news headlines, but these murders are part of a larger trend with a long history. If you are looking for ways to support the AAPI community, take action, donate, or support AAPI classicists, here are some resources:
- Support the Asian and Asian American Classical Cauus
- Consult Stop AAPI Hate, which provides a number of concrete ways in which you can advocate for anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and laws, report incidents of harssment and discrimination, share safety and intervention tips, and take simple but important steps to support AAPI communities such as supporting Asian-owned businesses, which have been hit particularly hard during the pandemic.
- Read about the history of anti-Asian discrimination in the US in this National Geographic article.
- Find mutual aid and other resources on combatting AAPI hate and gendered racism at Notes from the Apotheke by graduate student Nadhira.
- Get involved with Asian Americans Advancing Justice. This organization's programs include initiatives on anti-Asian hate and racial profiling, immigrant rights, media diversity, and voting rights.
Revised 8/2/20
There are an increasing number of excellent resource lists and bibliographies covering antiracist articles, blogs, books, podcasts, and videos relevant to ancient Mediterranean studies and beyond. For two of the most comprehensive lists, see:
Multiculturalism, Race & Ethnicity in Classics Consortium’s Suggested Resources, “...an ongoing bibliography on antiracism and teaching that is collectively curated by MRECC throughout the year.”
Rebecca Futo Kennedy, Classics at the Intersections: Anti-Racism Resources (oriented towards higher education)
See also the Mountaintop Coalition’s, Links and Resources
Mixed Up in Classics, Anti-racism in Education 2020 summer round up (many links with a UK focus)
Black-Centered Resources for Ancient Mediterranean Studies (editorial team members - Dora Gao, Jayden Lloyd, Nadhira Hill, Sam Ross, Zoe Elise Thomas)
What follows is a select resource list that focuses on teaching about enslavement and on K-12 education. Thanks to Kelly P. Dugan, Dani Bostick, and Tom DiGiulio for contributing. We welcome further contributions. Please email info@classicalstudies.org with suggestions for additions to this list.
TEACHING ABOUT ENSLAVEMENT: ANCIENT AND MODERN
Autry, LaTanya S. (2018) “The Afterlife of Slavery: Language and Ethics”, a compilation of conversations on language choice and slavery: https://wakelet.com/wake/f589cdc4-7512-43ff-a489-5ed48062179f
Bostick, D. (2018). “Teaching Slavery in the High School Latin Classroom.” Medium. https://medium.com/in-medias-res/teaching-slavery-in-the-high-school-latin-classroom-ce4146827abe.
Broussard, P.A. (2013). “Black Women’s Post-Slavery Silence Syndrome: A Twenty-First Century Remnant of Slavery, Jim Crow, and Systemic Racism – Who Will Tell Her Stories?” Florida A&M University College of Law Journal Publications, pp. 373-421.
Dugan, K.P. (2019). “The ‘Happy Slave’ Narrative and Classics Pedagogy: A Verbal and Visual Analysis of Beginning Greek and Latin Textbooks.” New England Classical Journal. 46: 1, pp. 62-87.
Foreman, P.G., et al. (community sourced document) “Writing about Slavery/Teaching about Slavery: This Might Help.” https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A4TEdDgYslX-hlKezLodMIM71My3KTN0zxR….
Hunt, P. (2018). Ancient Greek and Roman Slavery. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Hunt, P. (2016). “Violence Against Slaves in Classical Greece.” In W. Riess and G.G. Fagan (eds.) The Topography of Violence in the Greco-Roman World. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, pp. 136-161.
Jeffries, H. K. and D. C. Owens. (2018). “Diverse Experience of the Enslaved.” Teaching Hard History: American Slavery. https://www.tolerance.org/frameworks/teaching-hard-history/american-sla….
Konstan, D. (2013). “Menander’s Slaves: Banality of Violence.” In B. Akrigg and R. Tordoff (eds.), Slaves and Slavery in Ancient Greek Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 144-158.
Robinson, E. (2017). “‘The Slaves Were Happy’: High School Latin and the Horrors of Classical Studies.” Eidolon. https://eidolon.pub/the-slaves-were-happy-high-school-latin-and-the-horrors-of-classical-studies-4e1123649916.
Southern Poverty Law Center. (2018). Teaching Hard History: American Slavery. Montgomery, A.L.: Southern Poverty Law Center.
Stewart, R. (2012). Plautus and Roman Slavery. Malden, M.A.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Westerlund, R. (2018). “Slaves or Workers: Grammatical Choices as Moral Choices in History Textbooks.” Reclaiming the Language for Social Justice. https://reclaimingthelanguage.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/slaves-or-workers-grammatical-choices-as-moral-choices-in-history-textbooks/
EQUITY AND ANTIRACISM TRAINING AND REFLECTION
Multiculturalism, Race and Ethnicity in Classics Consortium (2020). “Principles of Antiracist Teaching and Reflection.” (resources suitable for all levels): https://multiculturalclassics.wordpress.com/teaching-resources-for-all-levels/
The Race Institute for K-12 Educators, The Race Institute offers opportunities for educators to grow their racial identities to support the positive racial identity development of students. http://www.raceinstitute.org/
The Racial Empowerment Collective at Penn GSE, The Racial Empowerment Collaborative (REC) is a research, program development, and training center that brings together community leaders, researchers, authority figures, families, and youth to study and promote racial literacy and health in schools and neighborhoods. https://www.recastingrace.com/
K-12 EDUCATION: LATIN AND BEYOND
Black Lives Matters at School (2020). Teaching Resources by a national coalition organizing for racial justice in education: https://writix.co.uk/blog/black-lives-matter-resources
Bostick, D. (2019). “The Shame of Mock Slave Auctions in Secondary Classrooms.” Sententiae Antiquae. https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2019/10/29/the-shame-of-mock-slave-auctions-in-secondary-classics/.
Bostick, D. and Bryant J. (2020). “Revisiting Rent-a-Roman: An Interview with Jermaine Bryant About Junior Classical League Slave Auctions.” Medium. https://medium.com/ad-meliora/revisiting-rent-a-roman-an-interview-with-jermaine-bryant-on-junior-classical-league-slave-7a398d8e4fb7
Bostick, D. (2020). “Not for All: Nostalgic Distortions as a Weapon of Segregation in Secondary Classics.” AJP, 141: 2, pp. 283-306.
Coffin, C. (2005). “Constructing and Giving Value to the Past: An Investigation into Secondary School History.” In F. Christie and J. R. Martin, eds., Genres and Institutions: Social Processes in the Workplace and in School. London: Cassell, pp. 196-230.
Coffin, C. & R. Veel. (1996). “Learning to Think Like an Historian: The Language of Secondary School History.” In Hasan, R. and G. Williams, eds. Literacy in Society. New York: Longman, pp. 191-231.
Di Giulio, T. (2020). “Five Tips for Teaching Racial Competency with Racially Biased Textbooks: A 21st Century Skill for Classicists.” Medium. https://medium.com/ad-meliora/five-tips-for-teaching-racial-competency-with-racially-biased-textbooks-708706aa04cc
Dumas, M., & Nelson, J. (2016). “(Re)Imagining Black Boyhood: Toward a Framework for Educational Research.” Harvard Educational Review. 21: 2, pp. 27-47.
Fang, Z. & Schleppegrell, M. J. (2008). Reading in Secondary Content Areas: A Language-Based Pedagogy. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.
Fergus, E., Noguera, P., & Martin, M. (2014).”Schooling for Resilience: Improving the Life Trajectories of Black and Latino Boys.” Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Kennedy, Rebecca Futo, anti-racist resources for students and teachers in grades 7-12: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17CuQVP-2raWSZBKLHci-S44vuzTZ_SDBqtyKwTAX3pw/edit.
Mannie, Sierra (2020). Reflections on race and K-12 Classics in SCS June 2020 Newsletter: https://classicalstudies.org/education/scs-newsletter-june-2020-main
McKamey, Pirette (2020). “What Anti-racist Teachers Do Differently.” The Atlantic, June 17, 2020: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2020/06/how-be-anti-racist-teacher
Moore, E. et al. (2018). “A White Woman’s Guide to Teaching Black Boys.” Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.
Nelson, J. (2016). “Relational Teaching with Black Boys: Strategies for Learning at a Single-Sex Middle School for Boys of Color.” Teachers College Record. 118: 6, pp. 1-30.
Noel, J. (2012). “Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Racism.” In Noel, J. wd., Multicultural Education. 3rd ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, pp. 56-59
NYC Coalition for Educational Justice (2020). Diverse City, White Curriculum: The Exclusion of People of Color from English Language Arts in NYC Schools, available at: https://www.nyccej.org/2263/diverse-city-white-curriculum-the-exclusion-of-people-of-color-from-english-language-arts-in-nyc-schools
Rankine, Patrice. (2020). “Classics For All?” Liberal Education and the Matter of Black Lives. In Moyer, Lecznar, Morse (eds.), Classicisms in the Black Atlantic. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 267-290
Reichert, M., & Hawley, R. (2014). “I Can Learn from You: Boys as Relational Learners.” Cambridge, M.A.: Harvard Education Press.
Stevenson, H. C. (2014). Promoting Racial Literacy in Schools: Differences that Make a Difference. New York: Teachers College Press.
Van Ausdale, D. V., & Feagin, J. R. (2001). The First R: How Children Learn Race and Racism. New York, N.Y.: Roman & Littlefield.
Watson, D., Hagopian, J., & Au, W. (Eds) (2018). Teaching for Black Lives. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools (website at https://www.teachingforblacklives.org)
Conferences, Webinars, and Conference / Webinar Recordings:
Stevenson, Howard (2017), How to Resolve Racially Stressful Situations (Developing Racial Literacy) https://www.ted.com/talks/howard_c_stevenson_how_to_resolve_racially_stressful_situations
Our Voices: A Conference for Inclusive Classics Pedagogy (February 2020)
(Recordings and conference materials available here)
Res Difficiles: Difficult Conversations in Classics
(Recordings and conference materials available here)