14 Black Classicists: The Politics of American Learning

Time: Sept. 21, 2017, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Location: Peter Graham Room 114, Bird Library

Michele Ronnick (Wayne State University)

This public presentation is part of Syracuse University's African American Studies Department's Fall Colloquium, with a companion exhibit at the Community Folk Art Center. Ronnick's talk provides a historical framework for considering the meanings and purpose of higher education in black struggles for equality.  It maps experiences of black men and women who gained early access to American colleges and universities, including Latinist and activist William Bulkley - the first person of African descent to earn a Ph.D. at SU (1893).  These students, teachers, and scholars of Greek, Latin, ancient history, and pedagogy engaged classicism when it was the ultimate standard of being learned and educational opportunities for black people were limited.  Their endeavors are pertinent as intensified scrutiny of Affirmative Action raises (enduring) questions about whether people of African descent belong in “elite” educational institutions.

Michele Ronnick is author of many pioneering publications, articles, chapters, and reserach notes on black teachers and scholars in the field of classical studies.

Joan Bryant, African American Studies