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Res Difficiles 2.0: A Digital Conference On Challenges and Pathways for Addressing Inequity In Classics

Organizers: Hannah Čulík-Baird (Boston University) and Joseph Romero (University of Mary Washington)
Date: Saturday, March 20, 2021
Platform: Webinar

ResDiff 1.0 was timely respite in the midst of a pandemic that forced us to change whether and how we convene and exacted costs disproportionately in underserved communities by reinforcing the durable inequities that have come to define our times. What was conceived as an intimate gathering on the campus of Mary Washington for those teaching Classics was transformed into a digital event attracting 250 registrants from twelve countries. In our papers and conversations, we explored how people on the margins in our texts and contexts are invited—or pushed further from—the center, and explored avenues through with such marginalization might be addressed. Following the conference, recordings of the presentations were made available online at resdifficiles.com. Furthermore, a selection of those papers is being prepared for publication in a co-edited series of consecutive issues in Ancient History Bulletin which will start to appear in 2021.

Though tempted to narrow our focus to any one of the critical issues in and surrounding the discipline, we elected to maintain the furry and broad welcome to a Classics community that clearly needs to talk. In this second wholly digital conference, we shall once again examine the challenges presented by this curriculum with students who are increasingly more diverse in gender identity, race, ethnicity, income, family structure, and more. And while the society of our conference will examine pedagogical issues, we hope again to dilate outward to broader issues in education and society from (a) the current and future roles of Classics and the humanities in K-12 and higher education to (b) the ultimate goals of education. We invite papers from all those who study and teach the ancient world.

Our keynote speaker will be Patrice Rankine, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Classics at the University of Richmond.

The conference will be hosted as a Zoom webinar with a capacity of 500. Please note that the time zone of the conference will be US Eastern.

Abstracts of 350 words should be sent electronically to Joseph Romero (jromero@umw.edu) by January 8, 2021. Papers will be 20-25 minutes with coordinated discussion at the end of each session. Any questions regarding abstract submission may be addressed to Professors Romero or Čulík-Baird (culik@bu.edu). For more information see resdifficiles.com.