The University of Nottingham Centre for Spartan and Peloponnesian Studies invites all to a lecture by Professor Ellen Millender (Reed College) on “Sparta’s Spectacular Austerity” on Tuesday 20 November, 5pm in the Humanities Building (Lecture Room A3), University Campus, University of Nottingham.
Professor Millender has provided the following summary for her paper: “In this paper, which approaches austerity as a form of spectacle, I argue that the Spartans, through their performance of austerity, constructed, bolstered, and vaunted their identity before audiences both at home and abroad. Austerity, in other words, thus operated among the Lacedaemonians in ways that run counter to both the modern understanding of this term and the traditional view of Sparta as the paradigm of austerity. Unlike previous studies, which have generally treated Spartan austerity as an institution that aimed to tamp down display – particularly the display of wealth, this paper seeks to demonstrate that the Lacedaemonians’ particular brand of austerity was at once highly performative, competitive, and publicly oriented.
Drinks will be available after the talk in the Humanities Building foyer. A PDF map of the campus with directions to the University and local car parking locations, is available at https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/about/visitorinformation/mapsanddirections/universityparkcampus.aspx