The Committee for Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism is a unique standing committee comprising undergraduate and graduate students, faculty (ladder and non-ladder) and staff. The DIAR Committee was established in urgent recognition of the scourge of systemic racism and other forms of discrimination in our society and in the field with the objective of advancing the department’s goals in the areas of diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism.  Its charge is continuous and ongoing, and the committee seeks to fulfill its mission in the following ways: 

Learning 

The committee holds regular community conversations and office hours which focus on canvasing input and offering a receptive and productive environment for sharing feedback, concerns, and ideas at all levels within the department on inclusion and diversity in our community, classrooms and in our discipline. We work in conjunction with various FAS and university-wide offices to gather data related to diversity and inclusion metrics on campus and in our department and to develop best practices for pedagogy, scholarship, and community building. 

Educating

Our committee organizes and coordinates events that highlight issues of racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination and how best to combat them as members of a department and academic community. We also leverage the existing work of our departmental members and university colleagues by advertising opportunities to increase the diversity and inclusion literacy of the community and spreading the word about learning opportunities at Harvard (e.g. reading groups, research and funding opportunities). We are committed to increasing awareness of information and resources available to members of our community who have experienced sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination and bias.

Advocating

At the core of our mission is the creation and fostering of opportunities that advance the status and visibility of individuals of minoritized identities and other groups historically under-represented in academia not only within the department, but also within the wider field of Classics. Our committee has instituted a Summer Scholarship program for high school and college students who want to study Greek and Latin in the Harvard Summer School. The department also participates in the Harvard Griffin GSAS Research Scholar Initiative, which supports college graduates who are seeking further study in preparation for applying to classics graduate programs. For all current department members, we have established a Micro-grant Program for the development of projects dedicated to a more inclusive Classics, (e.g. talks and class visits by external speakers, reading groups, small exhibits, artistic projects, etc.). We are especially interested in projects that involve collaboration between different groups within the department (e.g. faculty and students; undergraduate and graduate students; faculty and staff).

We are committed to making ourselves available and accessible to every member of our community. We are available to offer counsel and support to any departmental committee or officer seeking input on the equity and inclusion implications of specific policies and programs.

While we cannot adjudicate individual complaints of bias, the chairs can direct members to specific campus resources dedicated to investigating and resolving such incidents. We also warmly welcome ideas and suggestions from members of the department on how we can advance diversity and inclusion in our community.

Committee Chairs

Irene Peirano Garrison (Fall 2022)

Emily Greenwood (Spring 2023)

Teresa Wu (Fall 2022; Spring 2023)

Committee Members

Calliopi Dourou

Eric Driscoll

David Elmer

Esteban Gutierrez

Jared Hudson

Ivy Livingston 

Vivi Lu

Alyson Lynch

Davide Napoli

Ryan Pasco

Chris Rudeen

Richard Thomas

Alexander Vega

Naomi Weiss

Ivor Zimmerman