CULTURE | Should We Cancel the Classics?

In this episode, Abigail Favale meets with educator Anika Prather to discuss race and classical literature. How do the Classics and the literary canon of Western civilization speak into the conversation on race, and should traditions be retrospectively adapted to reflect the values of contemporary philosophy?

Dr. Anika Prather currently teaches in the English department at Howard University and is the founder of The Living Water School, located in Southern Maryland. The Living Water School is a unique Christian school for independent learners, based on the educational philosophies of Classical Education and the Sudbury Model. Dr. Prather's research focus is on building literacy with African American students through engagement in the books of the Canon.

Check out her book, Living in the Constellation of the Canon: The Lived Experiences of African-American Students Reading Great Books Literature: https://www.amazon.com/dp/172493337X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_DJo9EbDYGWCEV

Read more about The Living Water School: https://thelwschool.org/

Professor Abigail Favale completed her doctorate at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she was a recipient of the competitive Overseas Research Award. In 2011, her dissertation was granted the Samuel Rutherford Prize for the most distinguished thesis in English literature.
Check out Abigail's academic profile.
(https://www.georgefox.edu/academics/undergrad/departments/writing_lit/FacultyPages/Abigail_Favale.html)

To connect with Dr. Favale's work, visit her website: https://abigailfavale.wixsite.com/home

0:00 - Introduction
0:25 - Introduction of Anika
2:00 - Should we cancel the classics?
4:17 - Classics & Black intellectual tradition
11:30 - Are the Classics White?
18:23 - Is the Canon White?
21:05 - Curriculum
28:57 - Misappropriating the Classics
35:08 - Liberation movements rooted in the Classics
37:11 - Education
42:29 - Reclaiming the Canon
44:52 - Outro

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