Episode 51: Race & Racism in Ancient & Medieval Studies, Part One: the Problem

What are the problems surrounding race and racism in the fields of Classics and Medieval Studies today? Where did these fields come from, and how does that affect the way we think about the past, and how we construct the present? For this episode (and the next) we interviewed eight scholars and put it together into an exploration of these unfortunately timely topics. Thank you to Katherine Blouin, Damian Fleming, Usama Ali Gad, Rebecca Futo Kennedy, Asa Mittman, Dimitri Nakassis, Helen Young, and Donna Zuckerberg for their generous contributions of time and thoughtful discussion of these difficult subjects. In our next episode, we will hear about possible responses to these problems -- in teaching, scholarship, and more.Show NotesTranscriptConversation Starter cocktailEpisode 44: "Us" & "Them" in the Ancient & Anglo-Saxon WorldsPart Two: ResponsesDr. Katherine Blouin Everyday Orientalism blog@isisnaucratisDr. Damian Fleming @FW_MedievalDr. Usama Ali GadClassics in Arabic blog@Usamaligad78Dr. Rebecca Futo KennedyClassics at the Intersections blogSourcebook on Race and Ethnicity in the Classical World @kataplexisDr. Asa Mittman  Inconceivable Beasts: The Wonders of the East in the Beowulf ManuscriptDr. Dimitri Nakassis Aegean Prehistory blog@DimitriNakassisDr. Helen YoungRace & Popular Fantasy: Habits of Whiteness @heyouonlineDr. Donna ZuckerbergEidolon @donnazuckThe Public Medievalist's series on Race, Racism, & the Middle AgesIn the Middle blog (frequently has useful posts on these subjects)Hold My Mead: A Bibliography For Historians Hitting Back At White Supremacy by Sarah BondMedieval People of Color TumblrOur Patreon pageiTunes linkStitcher linkGoogle Play Music linkThis podcast episode on YouTubeThis podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License