Equity

Our department is committed to creating and supporting an equitable and respectful space for all students, staff, and faculty. We take seriously the need to teach, learn, conduct research, and do our work in an inclusive environment that fosters and inspires intellectual growth and professional success for all, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, social class, age, disability, religion, or national origin.  We acknowledge that this is ongoing, necessary work that requires self-reflection as a department and as a discipline; we affirm our commitment to diversity and equity within Classics and join those calling for increased awareness, action, and change to promote this end.

We are conscious that ancient practices and ideas have been used, and continue to be used, to justify injustice and oppression.  We are equally confident that our subject’s capacity to engage and inspire is not constrained by this history.  On the contrary, it only strengthens our commitment as classicists to advance the conversation about human freedom and to prioritize inclusiveness and equity in our teaching and in the conduct of our profession. 

Our efforts in the Classics Department and through the action of the DEI Committee have advanced and will continue to advance the following objectives:

1) To create a space for learning and work in which our students, staff, and faculty are free from discrimination. 

2) To educate faculty, staff, and students about the manifestations of systemic racism, implicit bias, microaggressions, and their consequences for members of our community and to provide support for those suffering from them.  

3)  To support the advancement of students and colleagues from historically underrepresented backgrounds within the discipline.   

4) To widen the reach of our courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level to deal directly with questions and areas related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. 

5) To encourage and celebrate the research of our colleagues both here and in our wider field that advances questions and uses new methodologies aimed at broadening the scope of our field and its areas of study.

6) To articulate a forward-looking vision for our discipline and associated fields by supporting the development of new courses, encouraging participation in and organization of conferences and colloquia, and continuing to be partners here on campus and beyond with current DEI initiatives and programs. 

We are committed to these aims as part of our professional as well as civic responsibilities, in full recognition that the study of antiquity and its impact on the modern world depends for its vitality on attracting outstanding scholars from all backgrounds and on asking questions of the past that respond to the circumstances of the present. The actions we take to promote equity and inclusion will not suffice to protect members of our community from discrimination and the effects of systemic racism. For that reason, we confirm our solidarity with efforts to achieve equity in our nation and our world. We condemn and reject in the strongest terms all forms of discrimination that has made our field inhospitable to scholars of color, women, members of the LGBTQIA+ communities, first generation students and scholars, and all those impacted by these structures of harm. We are committed to improving and continuing to promote equity, but we recognize that any progress will require broad participation and full investment on the part of our community. We pledge to collaborate with and learn from all who have demonstrated their commitment to this work.

The specific mission of the DEI Committee in Classics is to advise the department on how its practices and policies relate to the aims of promoting equity within and beyond our community. We are an open forum where members of our community can reflect and advise each other on how better to present the complexity of the classical past to students, foster the careers of future teachers and scholars, and encourage the broadest possible range of perspectives on the ancient past. The committee can guide the department on issues of equity and diversity. For example, working groups and committees are invited to consult on how planned changes to its programs, or other initiatives, might impact members of our community unfairly. We organize events that can help all of us understand the effects of structural racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination as well as strategies for combatting them in our professional lives, and for fostering insight into how embracing difference in the present can contribute to knowledge about the past.  We also direct students and faculty of the department to university offices and support services that can help redress discrimination and discriminatory practices encountered while working and learning here at Princeton. 

The DEI Committee maintains a mailbox where comments and suggestions about how to achieve our goals to create a more inclusive department can be made anonymously below.

We also seek proposals for projects led by students or arising out of faculty-student collaborations in line with departmental diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. To submit a proposal, please complete the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Projects form.

Information regarding resources and options (including reporting options) for those who have experienced sexual misconduct is available at https://sexualmisconduct.princeton.edu/.  Such individuals are encouraged to consult with confidential resources, including the SHARE (Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising Resources and Education) Office.  Please note that faculty and staff within the Classics department (as well as all faculty and staff excluding specifically designated confidential resources) are required to report suspected sexual misconduct to the Office of Gender Equity and Title IX Administration; more information regarding these obligations is available here.

If you have concerns or complaints involving identity-based bias and/or discrimination that require action on the part of the University, please communicate them via [email protected]. Information for anyone who has experienced or witnessed identity-based bias, discrimination or harassment may be found at https://inclusive.princeton.edu/addressing-concerns/bias-discrimination-harassment.