Classics and Class

 

The study of ancient Greece and Rome is often seen as a preserve of the elite, available only to the privileged, bolstering class divisions and social exclusion. While access to the Classical world has in the last two decades widened, through courses taught in translation, museum exhibitions, films set in antiquity and productions of ancient drama, it is incontrovertible that training in the Greek and Latin languages during the previous two centuries played an important role in defining and maintaining class hierarchies. Yet the intense relationship between Classics and class (reflected in the semantic similarity of the words) remains obstinately under­documented, under­analysed, and under­theorised. The aim of this two­day interdisciplinary conference is to explore this challenge and ask what kind of access working­class people historically had to ancient Greek and Roman culture, whether through education and self­education, leisure activities or political activism, and whether the picture that emerges corresponds or conflicts with traditional perceptions of Classics.

Download the programme for the event.

Professor Edith Hall is Director of the Centre for the Reception of Greece & Rome at Royal Holloway, University of London. Other speakers include Chris Stray (Swansea), Ed Richardson (Princeton), Paula James (Open University), Katya Basargina (St Petersburg) and John Holford, Robert Peers Professor of Adult Education, Nottingham.

On the evening of 1 July, a complementary performance event will be staged, featuring readings by the poet and dramatist Tony Harrison, the storyteller Stephe Harrop, and actors (details to be confirmed). Their texts will bring vividly to life specific connections between ancient Greece and Rome and class consciousness, including works by Swift, Keats, Dickens, Charles Kingsley, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy and Louis MacNeice. This event will be chaired by Peggy Reynolds (Queen Mary, University of London), who presents BBC Radio 4's Adventures in Poetry.

Conference: Places are limited, if you wish to attend please complete a registration form

Performance Event: 5.00 to 7.30pm, followed by a reception. Admission is free but registration is required.If you wish to attend the performance event only please comnplete a performance event registration form

http://www.britac.ac.uk/events/2010/classicsandclass/index.cfm