My project this semester has focused on classical reception in contemporary far-right politics. Classical reception is concerned with how classical antiquity is represented or received in different historical and modern contexts. Following the 2016 presidential election, scholars have been more vocal in criticizing the far-right’s use of classical materials from statuary and literature to historical events and personas. This critical response has also included speaking out against complicit behaviors in teaching and in the broader university setting. As a result, there has recently been a more publicly visible effort to acknowledge and address the many ties that the discipline has to white supremacist ideals. The goal of this project is to draw together into the same space ten instances of these public criticisms from the last few years for the purposes of amplifying public awareness, as well as to serve as an educational resource to help foster discussion of classical reception and the problematic entanglements of the discipline with students in the classroom.
My original intention was to visually represent each instance, but my design was lacking, and I was unable to add in adequate visualizations of the way the materials are connected. The result is that the site is text-heavy and overly simple. While I have fallen short in this respect, there is still potential to visualize the interactions and interconnections that more broadly contextualize this conversation. My hope for the future of this project is to partner with a network of classics alumni to do further visualization work on the site, as well as broaden its capabilities to allow a space for student discussion.
Recent Comments