Ian Moyer - Classicisms in the Black Atlantic

This volume of essays has its origins in the Classicisms in the Black Atlantic conference, organized by Ian Moyer and Paul Hbert, and held at the University of Michigan on March 14 and 15, 2014. Although the cast of contributors to the volume has changed over time, the stellar presentations and productive discussions at that conference have provided an enduring intellectual stimulus to this project. The contributors to that event were (in order of their appearance in the program) Paolo Asso, Mira Seo, Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Justine McConnell, Emily Greenwood, Margaret Williamson, Michele Valerie Ronnick, Butch Ware, Tracey Walters, Adam Lecznar, and Patrice Rankine. Also participating as session chairs were Amy Pistone and Nick Geller. Hannah Yung provided extraordinary assistance in planning and promotion, and numerous units at the University of Michigan contributed to funding the conference. These include the Contexts for Classics initiative; The College of Literature, Science and the Arts; The Office of the Vice President for Research; The International Institute; The Institute for the Humanities; The Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies; The Department of History; The Department of Comparative Literature; The Modern Greek Program; The Department of Classical Studies; and The Department of Afroamerican and African Studies.

In preparing this volume for publication, the editors were grateful to have generous and productive comments from the anonymous readers of the book proposal. Throughout the process, the patience, support, and professionalism of our editor, Georgie Leighton, have been extremely valuable. We would also like to thank Hilary OShea and Charlotte Loveridge who steered our proposal through the early stages, the Classical Presences series editors for their support of this project, as well as the excellent production team, led by Bharath Krishnamoorthy. In the final stages, timely, accurate, and efficient copy-editing was provided by Nick Geller and Drew Stanley. Support for the production of the manuscript was provided by the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Finally, the editors would like to thank all the contributors for their generosity in sharing their insights, and their goodwill and dedication in revising and refining their work at each stage. This volume is a testament to their collaborative efforts.