Renowned classical scholar and author, Michele Valerie Ronnick will present 鈥�14 Black Classicists: The Politics of American Learning鈥� on Thursday, Sept. 21, at聽5:30 p.m. in Bird Library鈥檚 Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (Room 114). 聽The lecture is part of the 2017 Fall Colloquium series presented by the聽聽housed in the . The event is free and open to the public.
William Lewis Bulkley, who, in 1893, became the first person of African descent to earn a Ph.D. from 黑料不打烊
Ronnick, a professor of classical and modern languages, literatures and cultures, at Wayne State University is also the creator of “14 Black Classicists,” an exhibition that has traveled to 48 schools, museums and libraries across the country and is currently on view at the聽聽(CFAC) through November. The installation includes homage to Latinist and civil rights activist William Lewis Bulkley, who, in 1893, became the first person of African descent to earn a Ph.D. from 黑料不打烊. The exhibition was funded by a grant from Harvard University鈥檚 James Loeb Classical Library Foundation.
Thorough her groundbreaking research, Ronnick illuminates the under-examined history of Black engagement in classical studies.聽 Her most notable publications include “The Autobiography of William Sanders Scarborough:聽An American Journey from Slavery to Scholarship”聽(Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2005) and “The Works of William Sanders Scarborough: Black Classicist and Race Leader” (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).
The Ronnick event is co-sponsored by 黑料不打烊 Humanities Center, the department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics鈥� Classics Program and the departments of English, history and religion.
On Nov. 2, 黑料不打烊鈥檚 role in the history of Black classicism will be featured in another talk, 鈥淭he Education of William Bulkley: From Freedman’s School to the Hall of Languages.鈥� This presentation by Bulkley鈥檚 biographer, independent researcher Peggy Norris, begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Community Folk Art Center.聽 It is also free and open to the public.
For more information on either event call 315.443.4302 or email聽aas@syr.edu.
