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The classicist and author presents his book "The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate," a critical account of far-right appropriations of the classics.
About the Book (from the publisher):
It is difficult to ignore the resurgence of white nationalist movements in the United States, many of which employ symbols and slogans from Greco-Roman antiquity. A long-established neo-Nazi website incorporates an image of the Parthenon into its logo, and rioters wore Spartan helmets in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. These juxtapositions may appear incongruous to people who associate the ancient world with enlightened political ideals and sophisticated philosophical inquiry. But, as Curtis Dozier points out in this thought-provoking book, it’s hard to imagine a historical period better suited to rhetorical use by white nationalists. Indeed, some of the most widely admired voices from ancient literature and philosophy endorsed ideas that modern white supremacists promote, and the social and political realities of the ancient world provide models for political systems that white supremacists would like to establish today.
Part introduction to contemporary white nationalist thought, part exploration of ancient racism and xenophobia, and part intellectual history of the political entanglements of academic study of the past, this book reveals that contemporary white nationalist intellectuals know much more about history than many people assume—and they deploy this knowledge with disturbing success.
About the Author:
Curtis Dozier received his Ph.D. in Classics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008 and has taught at Vassar College since then. He is an internationally recognized expert on how extremists and hate groups invoke Greco-Roman antiquity to promote their politics. He is the author of the White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate (Yale University Press, 2026) and has been documenting examples of appropriations of Greco-Roman antiquity by hate groups online at his award-winning website Pharos: Doing Justice to the Classics since 2017 (https://doingjusticetotheclassics.org). He has appeared on Public Radio’s “Academic Minute,” BBC Radio 4’s “Anti-Social,” KPFA’s “Against the Grain,” and the Karen Hunter Show on Sirius XM.
Public Humanities programs are presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
AGE GROUP: | Teens | Kids | All Ages |
EVENT TYPE: | Humanities | Civic Life | Author Talks | *Registration Requested |
TAGS: | NEH |
