From Abortion to Pederasty: Addressing Difficult Topics in the Classics Classroom
Edited by Nancy S. Rabinowitz and Fiona McHardy
Abstract: Ancient sources raise a variety of issues—slavery, infanticide, abortion, rape, pederasty, domestic violence, death, sexuality—that may be difficult to discuss in a classroom where some students will have had experiences similar to those described in classical texts. They may therefore be reluctant to speak in class, and even the reading themselves may be painful. The editors of this volume are committed to the proposition that it is important to continue to teach texts that raise these issues, not to avoid them. In these papers classicists and ancient historians from around the world address how to teach such topics as rape, pederasty, and slavery in the classics classroom. The contributors present the concrete ways in which they themselves have approached such issues in their course planning and in their responses to students’ needs. The volume provides teaching tools for dealing with uncomfortable topics in the classroom, including homophobia and racism.
Published by Ohio State University Press, 2014.