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Classics & Its Third Rails by Dr. DaVia

Join us for a special talk with Philosopher and Classicist, Dr. Carlo DaVia who recently prepared a Guide to Free and Responsible Inquiry (Humanities Classroom), a guide for educators and students alike.

Dr. DaVia’s background in philosophy, Greek, and Latin makes him well-positioned to speak on the challenges of teaching Greek and Latin literature. As a fellow at the National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement, he produced a Guide to Free and Responsible Inquiry for use in Humanities Classroom. In this talk, Dr. DaVia will address the particular challenges of teaching and reading authors like Ovid and Catullus. 

Dr. DaVia writes:

“We as classicists read, and teach others to read, a number of texts that one might describe as "problematic." The Gallic Wars is an unapologetic story of genocide, the poems of Catullus rife with vulgarity, the Metamorphoses contain over fifty instances of rape, ad nauseam. Let us suppose that we deem at least some of these works worth reading. How can we read them responsibly? I would like, by way of open discussion, to introduce some concepts in moral philosophy that we need to answer such a question.”

This talk is free and open to all.

Attached is the handout for the talk

Zoom registration is required.