Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

5:00 pm

Hybrid (see description for details)

Internal Event

Speaker: Sarah Derbew, Assistant Professor, Stanford University. This is a hybrid event. In-person location is Room 3306 at the CUNY Graduate Center and online by Zoom.

Hosted By
Admission Price

Free

Register

In-Person: Registration not required. 
Online: For Zoom link, RSVP by emailing rkousser@gc.cuny.edu

In this presentation, I offer an overview of and snapshot from my recently published book Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity (2022). In this book, I explore how writers and artists create a world in which performers rework blackness alongside claims of foreignness and Greekness. In each chapter, black skin color interacts with other determinants of evaluation as Argive Greeks, royal Aithiopians, curious Scythians, and athletic Athenians participate in heterogeneous performances of blackness. Altogether, the sustained accounts that I offer in these chapters highlight the wide range of performances of blackness in Greek antiquity. I conclude each chapter with a contemporary comparandum that generates new avenues of connection between the Black archive of modernity and the ancient Greek tradition.

COVID-19/BUILDING ENTRY POLICY

CUNY attendees must show proof of vaccination by presenting a valid CUNY Access Pass through the CLEARED4 health validation platform upon entry. Non-CUNY visitors will need to show proof of ID by presenting a valid government-issued photo document. See the full Building Entry Policy for more information.