Interests
Imperial Greek literature
The Ancient Novel
Lucian of Samosata
Critical Ancient World Studies
Classical Receptions
Public Humanities
Feminist Theory
Postcolonial Theory
Embodiment and Phenomenology
Valeria Spacciante is a PhD candidate in the Classics Department and in the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society. Originally from Southern Italy, Valeria was trained in Classical Philology and Comparative Literature at the University of Pisa and Scuola Normale Superiore, where she earned a BA in Classics and an MA in Classical Philology. Her research combines rigorous textual analysis with critical theory and ranges from postclassical literature to contemporary classical receptions in the anglophone world. Valeria's scholarly agenda is driven by the question of how societies exploit the social capital associated with classical antiquity for social exclusion and how this affects those who are left out. Her research appears in international academic journals such as "Classical Philology," “Classical Receptions Journal," "Dioniso," and "Whatever," and in public-facing venues like "Public Books."
Her dissertation project, entitled "Bodies of Knowledge: Literary Norms and Resistance in the Ancient Novel," explores the relations between social exclusion and literary canonization in the ancient Greek novels, and in the theoretical spaces which are meant to address such relations. Her thesis argues that the Greek novels deploy scenes of physical suffering from the Greek literary canon to construct discourses of marginalization. The Greek-educated protagonists survive these episodes and eventually get their happy ending, while all other characters are more severely affected, to a varying degree depending on factors like gender, ethnicity, citizen status, and class. By focusing on the experiences of marginalized characters, her project creates a theoretical space to discuss their experiences in relation to the narrative pressure imposed by the Greek canon.
Valeria's commitment to deconstructing well-established narratives also extends to the contemporary world. On this topic, she has recently published an article, with the title “Circe, the female hero. First-person narrative and power in Madeline Miller’s Circe” (Classical Receptions Journal, 16.4, 2024). Taking Miller’s novel as a case study for a bigger trend of women writers rewriting Graeco-Roman myths from their female characters’ perspectives, she argues that the marketing campaigns around these novels appropriate the progressive aura of feminism to market a more inclusive version of the classical canon, while in fact, leaving structural power imbalances largely unquestioned. Valeria's deep commitment to Classical Reception as a methodology brought her to organize the tenth Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in the Reception of the Ancient World (AMPRAW) in 2021, making Columbia the first department to ever host it in North America.
Valeria has taught Greek and Latin at all levels, and she has served as a Literature Humanities preceptor for the Columbia Center for the Core Curriculum. Moreover, she has been collaborating with the Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) for five years, where she is a Senior Teaching Consultant. She also works as a Writing Consultant for the GSAS Writing Studio.
In her free time, Valeria enjoys traveling and exploring New York City's art scene. Naturally curious, she is always eager for new encounters and experiences!
Selected Publications
Spacciante, V. (forthcoming, January 2026). "(Un-)Learning Tragedy; The Costs of Conformity in On the Syrian Goddess." Classical Philology.
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.
