UA Modern Languages and Classics Department Presents Lecture on ‘Classica Africana: The Origins of Black Classicism’

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama department of modern languages and classics and the UA Academy Classics Club are presenting guest speaker Dr. Michele Ronnick of Wayne State University who will discuss “Classica Africana: The Origins of Black Classicism,” Monday, March 15, at 5 p.m. in 340 Bidgood Hall.

Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

Ronnick has uncovered a rich body of evidence concerning African-Americans and the study of the classics. This material covers the educational and vocational history, as well as the creative adaptation and response found in works of art and literature.  Both areas offer many research opportunities.

This lecture will introduce the audience to a group of men and women who learned classical languages in a time of great prejudice. Some of them, if not slaves themselves, were the sons and daughters of slaves. With resolve they became the ‘founding fathers and mothers’ of African-American work in philology. All those who study language today from Swahili and French to English and Sanskrit are indebted to these pioneers.

For more information, contact Dr. Kirk M. Summers, UA associate professor of classics at 205/348-2503 or ksummers@ML.AS.UA.EDU.