Interests
Imperial Greek Literature
The Greek Novel
Classical Reception
Classics in Pop Culture
Canon Formation and Canonicity
Valeria Spacciante is Lecturer in the Center for the Core Curriculum and in the Department of Classics at Columbia University, where she gained her PhD in 2026. Her research is driven by the question “What is the role of the classical canon in discourses of identity formation, and how are these discourses represented in cultural products?”, and focuses on imperial Greek literature and contemporary classical receptions in the anglophone world. Her writing has appeared in international academic journals like Classical Philology, Classical Receptions Journal, Whatever, and Dioniso, as well as in public-facing venues like Public Books.
Her first project, tentatively titled "Bodies of Knowledge: Canonicity and Identity in the Greek Novel, explores the tensions between literary canonization processes and the construction of social hierarchies in the five so-called “ideal” Greek novels. It argues that the Greek novels manipulate material from the Greek literary canon to destabilize Hellenocentric visions of society.
Besides her work on the ancient novel, Valeria has an active agenda in classical reception, with a focus on what she calls “mainstream classical receptions,” namely contemporary global phenomena engaging Graeco-Roman antiquity which are endorsed by popular platforms like Netflix, The New York Times, and Amazon. She argues that these venues support and advertise specific reception pieces, co-opting radical labels like “feminist,” “progressive,” and “anti-racist” to secure a wider audience and rebrand the classical canon as “inclusive,” without in fact addressing the power imbalances which this canon contributed to creating.
Valeria is also a passionate teacher and educator. She has taught Greek and Latin at all levels and Classical Mythology, as well as Literature Humanities, the mandatory first-year seminar on the history of Western Literature. She has collaborated with the Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning for several years, serving as Lead Teaching Fellow, Teaching Consultant, and facilitator and coordinator for the Positionality, Reflexivity and Identity Learning Community. She is passionate about inclusive teaching practices and applying the Universal Design for Learning to language classes. She is also interested in integrating Difficult Knowledge topics in teaching practices.
In her free time, Valeria enjoys traveling and exploring New York City's cultural scene. Naturally curious, she is always eager for new encounters and experiences!
Selected Publications
Spacciante, V. (2026). "(Un-)Learning Tragedy. The Costs of Conformity in On the Syrian Goddess." Classical Philology, Volume 121, Number 1. 40-62.
Spacciante, V. (2024). “Circe, the Female Hero: First-Person Narrative and Power in Madeline Miller’s Circe.” Classical Receptions Journal. Volume 16, Issue 4. 405-418.
Spacciante, V. (2021). “The successful impotent. Deconstructing Platonic Eros in Walter Siti’s Scuola di Nudo." “Whatever. A Transdisciplinary Journal of Queer Theories and Studies” 4.125–160.
Spacciante, V. (2016). "Autoaffermazione e metaletteratura: l'"Histoire di Tityre" del Prométhée mal enchaîné di André Gide." "Dioniso," 6.125–151.
