ABSTRACT
Beyond citations and land acknowledgements, what does it mean to do the work of Indigenising and decolonisation in a field such as classical studies? In this chapter, I emphasise overlapping areas from which classicists and ancient Mediterranean historians and their students can start their conversations in the classroom to learn from and build practices of community-centred work towards what they assert as decolonial practices. Critical approaches to race and feminism, as well as repatriation and reclamation, can remap the ancient Mediterranean in reflections and public interpretations. Through this remapping, approaches for public audiences can be more critical of the colonial structures that inform the field of classical studies and can move towards engaging with ancient pasts that have stakes for still-living people. Paying attention to where decolonial work is being actively negotiated in direct community collaboration is necessary for going beyond appreciation and towards addressing and repairing colonial harm. I draw broadly from the fields of public history and museum studies, but much of this work comes from Black and Indigenous artists and scholars who regularly confront colonial frameworks in archives, museums, and other forms of public memorialisation. With such Indigenous-centring work in mind, I present this brief discussion as a reflective essay that centres interdisciplinary dialogue with public history and museum frameworks in decolonising narratives for public audiences beyond the classroom.
