The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life, 1780-1910

Debates continue to rage about whether students in American universities should be required to master a common core of knowledge. This text traces the emergence of a classical model that became standard in the American curriculum in the 19th century and remains at the core of contemporary controversies in the humanities. Through an examination of university curricula and the writings of classical scholars, Caroline Winterer shows how classics was transformed from a narrow, language-based subject to a broader study of civilization. Building on German Romantic ideals of self-formation, 19th-century classicists argued that Americans could avoid modernity’s pitfalls of materialism and industrialization by immersing themselves in the spirit of classical antiquity. Classicists pursued this vision by advocating a new pedagogy that shifted the emphasis from Latin to Greek texts. In so doing, they helped remake the American model of the educated person, moving from the gentlemanly ideal of the 18th century to the modern conception of a cultured, liberal citizen. Winterer argues that we cannot understand the rise of the American university or modern notions of selfhood and knowledge without an appreciation for the role of classicism in their creation. The Culture of Classicism is intended to provide new insight into our understanding of 19th-century American intellectual life.