Welcome to the reception: UCLA faculty bring new viewpoints to study of classics

To spark more abundant and expansive engagement with classical studies, some UCLA professors are bringing new attention to the discipline through an approach called "classical reception."

Classical reception is the study of how literary texts and material culture from ancient Greece and Rome have been "received" - reused, adapted and reimagined throughout history and around the world.

Kelly Nguyen and Adriana Vazquez, assistant professors in the UCLA department of classics, are utilizing classical reception in their research and teaching to include more diverse histories, cultures and voices across geographies and time periods.

"Traditionally, classics teaching emphasized the study of the ancient world 'in its own time,' meaning in the original contexts," Nguyen said. "The way I teach reception is by asking how we can study classics in a way that makes it 'of the times.' Classics is not some fixed treasure to be passed down as if in a vacuum. Rather, it is created and recreated."

Among reception classes Vazquez has taught was one on Central and South American essayists, poets, religious figures and others who engaged with or adapted antiquity. Another covered depictions of Helen of Troy in antiquity and modernity. The class drew from material as varied as Homer's "Iliad," Sappho's poetry, Wolfgang Petersen's film "Troy" and even "The Simpsons."

"The subject matter was Helen of Troy, but we touched on questions of the construction of gender, white supremacy, Eurocentric beauty standards and the male gaze," Vazquez said. "There are many inroads to have those kinds of conversations, but classical reception always ends up being a really fruitful one."

One major benefit of teaching with a classical reception approach is accessibility. Students might first encounter antiquity through popular contemporary media, such as the "Percy Jackson" book and film series and Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" films. Those pop culture depictions of ancient Greek and Roman stories can give professors an opportunity to engage young scholars in classics studies.

Read the full story on the UCLA Humanities website.