The Study of Classics Is Changing: Transformation Beyond the Culture Wars
Why Read This
What Makes This Article Worth Your Time
Summary
What This Article Is About
Goldman and Kennedy argue that despite media portrayals of classics departments locked in culture wars, the real story involves steady transformation driven by both internal pressures to address racial and class exclusions and external financial challenges. Traditional classics programs—focused almost exclusively on Greek and Latin languages—have been evolving toward broader ancient Mediterranean studies that contextualize Greco-Roman cultures alongside ancient Africa, West/Central Asia, and the Levant, while incorporating diverse methodologies including archaeology, epigraphy, and modern receptions.
The authors detail how Denison University’s classics program exemplifies successful transformation: shifting from training a handful of graduate-school-bound students through intensive language study to providing broad-based education in ancient histories, literatures, and cultures for diverse student populations. This curriculum reform, incorporating project-based learning and engaging directly with classics’ complicity in white supremacist narratives, resulted in more diverse, intellectually rigorous classrooms and sustainable enrollments. The authors advocate for continued self-critique and adaptation as essential to preserving classics programs amid widespread humanities program closures.
Key Points
Main Takeaways
Beyond Culture War Framing
Media narratives of classics being “destroyed” or “saved” misrepresent steady, multifaceted transformation driven by pedagogical and social imperatives.
Confronting Demographic Homogeneity
Classics departments face overwhelming whiteness with documented discrimination experiences, prompting grassroots movements including electing the first Black woman president.
Methodological Diversity Mismatch
Disproportionate emphasis on Greek and Latin languages forced even bioarchaeologists to master both, creating barriers misaligned with professional realities.
Ancient Mediterranean Studies Model
Programs are shifting toward contextualizing Greek and Roman cultures alongside ancient Africa, West/Central Asia, and the Levant.
Denison’s Successful Transformation
Shifting from graduate-school tracking to broad liberal arts education resulted in diverse classrooms, sustained enrollments, and enhanced intellectual rigor.
Financial Pressures and Closures
Small and midsize classics programs face elimination at alarming rates following the 2008 crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.
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Article Analysis
Breaking Down the Elements
Main Idea
Transformation Through Self-Critique
Classics departments are undergoing necessary evolution from narrow language-focused programs toward inclusive ancient Mediterranean studies, driven by addressing historical racial exclusions, methodological diversity needs, and financial sustainability requirements—a transformation misrepresented by media as culture war conflict but actually reflecting healthy disciplinary growth through self-examination.
Purpose
Correcting Public Misunderstanding
The authors aim to counter simplistic media narratives by explaining the complex, multifaceted reasons behind classics curriculum changes, advocate for continued disciplinary self-critique as essential rather than destructive, and provide a practical case study demonstrating how thoughtful reform strengthens rather than weakens academic programs while serving broader student populations.
Structure
Problem Diagnosis → Case Study → Broader Implications
The article begins by reframing media misrepresentations, analyzes internal disciplinary problems (racial homogeneity and methodological imbalances), presents Denison University’s successful transformation as concrete evidence, addresses external financial pressures, and concludes by positioning these changes as models for other humanities fields facing similar challenges.
Tone
Measured, Explanatory & Optimistic
The authors maintain a calm, reasoned tone countering sensationalist narratives, present data-driven evidence about discrimination and enrollment patterns, demonstrate practical optimism through the Denison success story, and advocate firmly but respectfully for continued reform while acknowledging legitimate concerns about program closures.
Key Terms
Vocabulary from the Article
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Tough Words
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Relating to the study of language in historical texts; concerning the scholarly analysis of literary and linguistic development through written records.
“Our national organization changed its name in 2013 from the American Philological Association to the Society for Classical Studies.”
Scientists who study human and animal remains from archaeological sites to understand past populations, health, diet, and culture through biological evidence.
“Graduate departments require even bioarchaeologists, who may never use them and need other specialized training, to master both ancient Greek and Latin.”
To make suffering, hardship, or a problem less severe; to provide partial relief or improvement without complete resolution.
“We also have reason to hope that it will help alleviate some of the historic racial and class exclusions.”
Changing frequently and unpredictably; characterized by erratic shifts in loyalty, preference, or behavior; unreliable or capricious.
“We also cannot ignore external financial pressures and the fickle whims of social values.”
Involvement as an accomplice in wrongdoing; the state of being connected with or participating in something morally or legally questionable.
“They also push back on public confrontations with or discussions of our discipline’s well-documented complicity in the perpetuation of white supremacist ideologies.”
The act of causing something to continue indefinitely; maintaining or prolonging the existence of a condition, belief, or system over time.
“Our discipline’s well-documented complicity in the perpetuation of white supremacist ideologies in the United States.”
Reading Comprehension
Test Your Understanding
5 questions covering different RC question types
1According to the article, Princeton University’s changes to its classics major represent “dumbing down” or “dropping standards.”
2What significant event occurred at the 2019 meeting of the classics national organization?
3Which sentence best captures the core problem with traditional classics training requirements?
4Evaluate each statement about Denison University’s classics program transformation:
Before changes, Denison’s program had only one or two majors graduating per year.
The program completely eliminated Greek and Latin language instruction.
The program’s integration with global commerce led to higher enrollments.
Select True or False for all three statements, then click “Check Answers”
5What can be inferred about why some scholars oppose ongoing critique of classics’ historical racial problems?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Ancient Mediterranean studies contextualizes Greek and Roman cultures alongside other ancient civilizations in Africa, West/Central Asia, and the Levant, making Greek and Latin languages just one track rather than the exclusive focus. This approach incorporates diverse methodologies including archaeology, epigraphy, art, architecture, and modern receptions, reflecting the field’s actual methodological diversity. Unlike traditional classics’ almost exclusive emphasis on language mastery, this model allows students to engage ancient materials through various specialized approaches aligned with their professional goals.
The number of nonwhite faculty in classics was so small that creating a separate breakout analysis of their experiences would have made individual respondents identifiable, thus undermining survey anonymity protections. This stark reality illustrates the discipline’s extreme racial homogeneity—the population of scholars of color was literally too small to analyze statistically without potentially exposing individual identities. This demographic reality underscores why addressing racial exclusion became such an urgent priority for reformers within the field.
Denison shifted to a tutorial model for the three to six students per year who wanted advanced language study beyond the first year, reducing languages’ centrality without eliminating them entirely. This allowed the program to redirect resources toward new courses in translation covering broader ancient material—including literature surveys, special topics on drama, epics, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, law, democracy, and modern classical receptions. Language enrollments remained steady post-reform, suggesting the tutorial model adequately served committed language students while freeing capacity for curriculum expansion.
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This article is rated Intermediate level. It requires understanding of academic institutional structures, ability to follow arguments about curricular reform across multiple dimensions (racial justice, methodological diversity, financial sustainability), and familiarity with disciplinary terminology like philological, bioarchaeologists, and grassroots movements. The authors present complex arguments about how internal and external pressures interact, requiring readers to synthesize evidence from survey data, historical context, and case studies while distinguishing authors’ positions from opposing viewpoints they critique.
Inside Higher Ed is a leading digital publication covering higher education issues, reaching administrators, faculty, and education professionals across disciplines and institutions. Publishing here allows Goldman and Kennedy to address both classics specialists and broader academic audiences facing similar challenges with program sustainability, diversity initiatives, and curriculum reform. The platform enables them to counter mainstream media narratives (like those in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, and National Review) with insider perspective while offering insights potentially applicable to other humanities fields undergoing parallel transformations.
The Ultimate Reading Course covers 9 RC question types: Multiple Choice, True/False, Multi-Statement T/F, Text Highlight, Fill in the Blanks, Matching, Sequencing, Error Spotting, and Short Answer. This comprehensive coverage prepares you for any reading comprehension format you might encounter.
