Open Letter

LCOC emerged in January 2021 as a reaction to the lack of EDI work completed in Classics departments in the Universities of London. There has been a need for increased pastoral support for students of colour, a decolonised and accessible curriculum, and better financial and material support for staff in decolonising the classical curriculum in Universities.

Inspired by our colleagues in the Christian Cole Society and other powerful voices who have delivered open letters to institutions in the past, we as the London Classicists of Colour deliver this letter to these departments in order to bring forth concrete and transparent changes. Our committee and student representatives are passionate about this message, and have been working hard within the society to provide events and resources to students in need of pastoral support and a desire to learn about decolonisation in Classics. However, our work as a small student society is not enough to enact change across the Universities of London, which is why we implore you to sign our Open Letter and show your support for the need to decolonise.

FULL OPEN LETTER

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A summary of demands:
SECTION 1: Language requirements in undergraduate courses
  1. Remove/reduce the language prerequisites for Classics degrees which constitute a barrier to entry
  2. Provide module options that cover other Ancient Languages, such as Sanskrit, Hittite, etc.
  3. Remove language requirements for those who prefer to focus on texts in translation
SECTION 2: Changes to the undergraduate and postgraduate taught curriculum
  1. Financially support faculty members in their research outside of 'traditional' fields of Classics
  2. Support the review of existing teaching modules so they contain non-Greco-Roman ancient cultures, minoritised voices and critical reception relating to race
  3. Financially and practically support racial and cultural diversification of student reading lists, seminar reading, and other required reading
  4. Financially and practically support the critical evaluation of scholarship from the 18th-20th centuries from a race and diversity perspective
SECTION 3: EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) work in Classics
  1. Departments should encourage ALL students to be involved with EDI and decolonisation work
  2. Departments should reward EDI work through course credits or financial compensation
  3. Institutions should provide wider opportunities to make EDI work more accessible and reduce burden on junior scholars
  4. The burden of decolonisation should be the responsibility of the institution, not driven by students
  5. Student-led initiatives should not act as replacements for EDI work needed in departments
  6. Departments should be transparent about EDI work
  7. EDI work should be outcome-focused
SECTION 4: Supporting and retaining POC in Classics
  1. Mandatory, ideally external, bias and microaggression training for faculty
  2. The creation of systems that allow students and faculty to report microaggressions and racism
  3. Financially and practically encourage and assist student organisations to set up welfare sessions
  4. Make an active effort to support POC in further studies within the field (e.g. provide scholarships for POC Classicists at PG and ECR level, active education about further study, provision of practical support)
  5. Hire and retain more staff from minority ethnic backgrounds to reflect UK diversity
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