Race and Identity in Greco-Roman Antiquity

This seminar will start from one big question: Were the ancient Greeks and Romans white? We will examine this question -- and the questions that spring from it -- from two angles. First, using literary and archaeological evidence and informed by modern critical race theory, we will investigate how people living in the ancient Mediterranean understood difference: between themselves and others as well as among their own citizens. Did they have a concept of race at all? If not, how did they theorize difference? Second, we will study how and why the modern race system in the United States uses antiquity and racializes the premodern past. Students will write several short responses to sources over the semester and complete a research paper on a topic of their choice.

Course Attributes: EN H; BU Eth; BU IS; AS HUM; AS LCD; FA HUM; AR HUM; AS SC

Race and Identity in Greco-Roman Antiquity

CLASSICS 306

Section 01