Question and Answer

 

Mary Frances Williams was asked to leave the Annual Meeting of the Society for Classical Studies meeting this year when she challenged a panel of scholars talking about the social landscape of Classics. It was reported that Williams said something explicitly racist to one of the panelists of color. Williams defends that she was responding to a set of claims that were made by the panelists. One presenter, Sarah Bond, made the argument for not citing certain scholars who have been accused of sexual harassment or who are known to be racists in the field. Another scholar argued that journal submissions from white male authors should be considered second to authors of “color, women, and gender-non-conforming scholars of color,” who need the benefits of publication for career advancement. You can read Williams's account of the panel here; and watch a video of the panel here.