Grant Parkerassociate professor of classics and, by courtesy, of comparative literature, will serve as interim director of the Sakurako and William Fisher family of the Stanford Division of Global Studies (SGS) in 2023-2024 while serving as previous director . Jisha Menon is on sabbatical leave.
Parker joined Stanford in 2006 and teaches Latin as well as topics related to the exotic and geographical elements of Roman imperial culture. His recent research lies at the intersection of South Africa, where he grew up, and the Mediterranean. His latest book, South Africa, Greece, Rome: classic confrontations, was published in 2017 and he is currently working on a book on monumentality in South Africa. On campus, he held numerous positions, including resident at Toyon Hall for 14 years, chair of the classics department for five years, interim director of the African and African American Studies program for the year last and vice-president of the Faculty Senate. Steering committee this year.
Parker has been an integral member of the SGS community for many years, having served as co-director of the Center for African Studies and as a member of the SGS Advisory Board. Over the next year, he is excited to foster synergies among SGS’s 14 centers and programs while advancing the division’s global mission of research, education and community engagement.
“The coming year will provide me with an overview of Stanford’s global commitments, both within and beyond the humanities framework from which I come,” Parker said. “I look forward to developing conversations around the work of SGS, its centers, programs and partners – in a sense, making connections conceptually, programmatically and interpersonally.”
In 2023-24, three other SGS programs will also welcome new directors. Ali Yaycioğluassociate professor of history, will take over the direction of Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies this fall, and Hector Hoyosprofessor of Iberian and Latin American cultures, will join the Center for Latin American Studies in winter quarters. In addition, Steven ZippersteinDaniel E. Koshland Professor of Jewish Culture and History, will serve as interim director of the Taube Center for Jewish Studies until the new director Vered Chemtov returns from sabbatical leave.
To learn more about Professor Parker and his plans for the coming year, read the Q&A below.
What are your research interests? What are you currently focusing on?
My background is in Greco-Roman (“classical”) antiquity, arguably the first regional studies of the modern world. As a scholar, I began with Latin literature and early Roman culture, and it remains a central part of my teaching and research. My thesis book focused on the protohistory of Orientalism, that is, Western discourses about “the Orient,” particularly India and Egypt. My interest in Egypt increasingly highlighted the monuments, memorials and collective memory linked to it. At the same time, my research embraced (Southern) African and comparative dimensions.
Currently I am writing a book on monumentality in South Africa, comparing African and other traditions. At the same time, I am leading several digital projects in collaboration with heritage professionals based in South Africa. My evolving book project both reflects and stimulates such engagements. At a time of heritage precariousness, I am delighted to be able to work directly with Southern African archives, museums and other collections through their curators, focusing on digital resources that can ultimately support their heritage work. preservation, dissemination and generally animation of heritage.
What can you tell us about your childhood in South Africa? How often do you come back to visit?
It turns out I grew up in Cape Town at the end of apartheid. My first year of university in 1985 was also the year that the then President PW Botha declared a state of emergency in what we can today see as the violent death throes of the apartheid. Although racial segregation was not abolished until the 1990s, it was openly or tacitly contested on several fronts. My formative years were therefore marked by the fight against racism and oppression. Although my studies focused on histories far removed in time and place, I took from my Capetonian upbringing an abiding interest in the historical contingencies of race and ethnicity, and this eventually expressed in my doctoral research.
My connection to the Western Cape in South Africa has remained strong throughout this time. Aside from the pandemic, I have managed to spend several weeks there every year since the time when first studies and then work took me away. It is gratifying to have been able to develop research interests fruitfully combining southern Africa and the Mediterranean.
What courses will you teach during the next academic year?
Two of my courses this year have a global dimension. My winter seminar compares slavery narratives across Indian Ocean, Atlantic, and Mediterranean contexts, combining ancient and modern elements.
In the spring I will teach again Basis of humanitieswho will for the first time be part of the Civic, liberal and global education (COLLEGE). I am particularly proud that my colleagues in the Humanities Core and I have been able to develop this program in such a way that it combines the depth of a particular geographically defined track with the breadth of themes mutually agreed upon in plenary conferences.
What SGS initiatives are you most excited about this year? How do you plan to build on the work of your predecessor, Jisha Menon, while she is on sabbatical?
As Acting Director for the coming year, my main role will be to do everything I can to keep the wheels of SGS oiled and to help our centers achieve their own goals. I certainly want to make sure that Jisha’s initiatives, including Academic Rescue Fund And Oceanic imaginationscontinue to thrive.
I also hope to facilitate conversation between different centers in contexts such as Global Dialogues, a webinar series that aims to foster new thinking on critical global issues. The three themes we are planning for this year are monuments to nostalgia (fall), slavery (winter), and world sport (spring). While the first two are topics I’ve had many discussions about with colleagues at Stanford over the years, the third is a bit of a wild card – a topic that generates great interest but is not so often discussed in academic contexts. The next Summer Olympics seem to be an opportunity to make amends.
