Continuing Conversations Series: Teaching and Fostering Anti-Racism Through the Classics

It has long been the perception that elitism and privilege are associated with an education in the Classics. As a result, modern misogynists love to quote episodes from ancient history, and white supremacists are currently engaged in the cultural appropriation of Latin and classical antiquity in order to justify their objectives. Simply put, the study of Classics is suffering from an image problem, and it is time that dedicated anti-racist teachers and advocates push back.

This panel of four incredible educators aims to demonstrate how they, as teachers of classical languages and humanities, are working to present language and culture in a way that promotes respect, leads to accurate historical perspectives, builds inter- and intra-cultural competence, and values and supports the identity and contribution of every student and colleague every day.

Moderated by Dr. Edward Zarrow, representing the National Committee on Latin and Greek (NCLG) 

This event is free of charge to all language advocates! Please consider supporting the next 40 years of language advocacy by making a donation of $40. www.languagepolicy.org/donate

MEET OUR PANELISTS:

DR. EDWARD ZARROW

Chair, National Committee for Latin and Greek

Dr. Edward "Ted" Zarrow earned his Ph.D. in Classics and Ancient History from Yale in 2007, and he is currently in his 14th year teaching Latin at Westwood High School in Westwood, MA. He has served as the Advocacy Coordinator for the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association and as the Massachusetts representative to the National Council of State Supervisors of Foreign Languages. He has won numerous teaching awards for his unorthodox approaches to teaching language, history, & culture, and he is regarded as a national language advocate. He was the ACTFL 2016 National Language Teacher of the Year, and he currently chairs the National Committee for Latin and Greek.

SKYE SHIRLEY

PhD Student, University College London

Skye Shirley is a PhD student in the Latin department at University College London. She is the founder and director of Lupercal, an international organization dedicated to increasing opportunities for women in Latin language studies. She is a Latin teacher and curriculum consultant, drawing on her decade of experience teaching Latin learners of diverse ages and levels.

WILLIAM LEE

Chair, American Classical League's Diversity Equity, and Inclusion Committee

William Lee is in his 21st year teaching and has taught the last 18 years at Tom C. Clark HS in San Antonio. For more than 20 years, William has served the San Antonio Classical Society, American Classical League, and North American Cambridge Classics Project. He currently serves as the chair of ACL's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

JOHN BRACEY

Latin Teacher, Massachusetts

John Bracey has been a Latin teacher in Massachusetts since 2010, and he holds a B.A. in Classics from UMass Amherst and an M.A. from Boston College. He has taught Latin exclusively using Comprehensible Input Strategies for the past several years. He leads anti-racist workshops around the country for teachers of Latin and other world languages. He was the 2016 Massachusetts Latin teacher of the year.

ANTON SCHULZKI

President-Elect, National Council for the Social Studies

Anton Schulzki has been active in NCSS since 2001 as a conference presenter, a House of Delegates representative from the Canada Community, and House of Delegates’ Steering Committee member and 2010 Steering Committee chair. Schulzki served on the NCSS Board of Directors in 2010 in his role as steering committee chair, and served 2013-2016 as an elected board member. He has been honored for his work with LGBTIQ students. He believes that among the most challenging issues confronting social studies educators is creating and expanding relationships, and looks to expand conversations across disciplines, across levels, with parents, the public and politicians.