Valeria Spacciante
Graduate Student
vs2716@columbia.edu
Interests
Imperial Greek literature
Lucian of Samosata
Ancient novel
Literary theory
Parody
Feminist and gender studies
Classical reception
Classics in pop culture
Public humanities
Born in Bari (southern Italy), Valeria moved to Pisa in 2014, where she earned both her BA (Classics) and MA (Classical Philology) from the University of Pisa and Scuola Normale Superiore. During her university years, Valeria had the chance to spend a semester at UCL (London) as an exchange student, where she became familiar with Classical Reception Studies, a crucial piece in her own research ever since. She also spent one semester in Paris, where she wrote her MA thesis in collaboration with Sorbonne Université's "Centre de recherche en littérature comparée".
Trained as a philologist, Valeria has always been interested in how contemporary society engages with classics, in particular how classics can be used to make powerful political and ideological statements against the social status quo.
In this spirit, her dissertation project, tentatively entitled "Bodies of knowledge. Reading resistance in the ancient novel" aims to better understand the power dynamics between bodies and "paideia" in the ancient novel. In particular, she is analyzing episodes in which characters in novels attempt to oppose known storylines by modifying their own bodies as a way to oppose the hegemonic culture at the time.
For the 2023-24 academic year, Valeria will be working on her dissertation first at the University of California Berkeley (Fall), and then at the University of Cambridge (Spring).
Valeria is also working on contemporary novels that rewrite Greek myths from a female perspective. Despite marketing campaigns which stress how subversive these novels are, she argues that the first-person narration is not enough to qualify them as "advocating for female emancipation". Her current work on Natalie Haynes' "Stone Blind" (2022) recently led to a public-facing piece on the topic.
She is also a co-organizer of the tenth Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in the Reception of the Ancient World (AMPRAW).
Valeria has taught Greek and Latin at all levels and has been collaborating with the Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) for three years. For the 2023–24 academic year, she will be coordinating Columbia's "Pedagogies of Race and Oppression" learning community.
After four years in New York City, Valeria is excited to take this year to explore the Bay Area and the British countryside. Naturally curious, she is always eager for new encounters and experiences!
Selected Publications
Spacciante, V. (2023). “When Medusa Meets #Metoo.” “Public Books.”
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
