Women's Classical Committee UK

The WCC was formed in 2015, on International Women's Day, at the Institute of Classical Studies, London.{{cite web |url=https://medium.com/cloelia-wcc/launching-the-womens-classical-committee-in-the-uk-7b47875d7188 |title=Launching the Women's Classical Committee in the UK |author1=McHardy, F. |date=11 October 2016 |publisher=Cloelia (Women's Classical Caucus) |access-date=2017-06-22}} It was inspired by the Women's Classical Caucus in the United States and the Society for Women in Philosophy UK [http://www.swipuk.org/ (SWIP]). Membership of the WCC is open to all genders. The first chairpersons of the WCC were Victoria Leonard and Helen Lovatt.

The WCC held its launch event, 'Women in Classics: Past, Present and Future', at the Institute of Classical Studies on 11 April 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://cucd.blogs.sas.ac.uk/files/2015/01/WCC-Origin-and-Visions.pdf|title=WCC Origins and Visions}}{{Cite journal|date=2017-03-22|title=Wikipedia:Meetups/UK/Institute of Classical Studies Jan 2017|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Meetups/UK/Institute_of_Classical_Studies_Jan_2017&oldid=771575708|journal=Wikipedia|language=en}} The WCC held its 2017 annual general meeting on 20 April 2017 at the Ioannou Centre, University of Oxford.{{Cite web|url=http://theclassicalassociation.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/the-womens-classical-committee-uk.html|title=The Women's Classical Committee UK: looking forward after our first year|website=theclassicalassociation.blogspot.co.uk|access-date=2017-09-15}} The theme was 'Diversity in Classics'. The second WCC AGM was held at the Institute of Classical Studies again in April 2018, on the theme of activism with feminist classicists Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz and Donna Zuckerberg (editor of online magazine [https://eidolon.pub Eidolon]) as guest speakers.{{cite web |last1=Campbell |first1=Virginia |title=Report from the 2018 AGM |url=https://wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2018/06/01/report-from-the-2018-agm/ |website=WCC-UK |access-date=26 August 2018 |date=1 June 2018}}

The first major event the WCC organised was 'Classics and Feminist Pedagogy: Practical Tips for Teaching', which took place at the University of Birmingham on 29 July 2016.{{Cite news|url=https://wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/events/classics-and-feminist-pedagogy/|title=Classics and Feminist Pedagogy|date=2016-07-22|work=WCC-UK|access-date=2017-09-15|language=en-GB}}

The WCC has organised careers advice workshops for early- and mid-career academics, and an alternative careers in and around classics event.{{cite web |url=http://theclassicalassociation.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/the-womens-classical-committee-uk.html |author1=Atack, C. |date=25 May 2017 |title=The Women's Classical Committee UK: looking forward after our first year |publisher=The Classical Association |access-date=2017-06-22}}{{Cite news|url=https://wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2017/05/24/adjacent-alternative-and-post-academic-careers-in-and-around-classics/|title=Adjacent, Alternative and Post-Academic Careers in and around Classics|date=2017-05-24|work=WCC-UK|access-date=2017-09-15|language=en-GB}} In September 2017 the WCC organised an event on bullying and harassment in classics hosted by the University of Roehampton.{{Cite news|url=https://wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2017/08/14/booking-open-bullying-and-harassment-in-the-uk-classical-workplace-finding-solutions/|title=Booking Open: Bullying and Harassment in the UK Classical Workplace: Finding Solutions|date=2017-08-14|work=WCC-UK|access-date=2017-09-15|language=en-GB}}

The WCC has organised a panel of papers at the 2017 Classical Association Conference at the University of Kent and the Classical Association Conference at the University of Leicester. It has sponsored two round table discussions on feminist pedagogy at the 2017 International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds, and sponsored a double panel on empresses from Late Antiquity at the International Medieval Congress 2018.{{cite web |url=http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/classicalstudies/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/CA2017-Paper-and-Speaker-Details.pdf |title=Classical Association Conference 2017 DETAILS OF ROUND TABLES, PANELS, SPEAKERS, AND PAPERS |publisher=Open University |date=2017 |access-date=2017-06-22}}IMC, 2017. Leeds International Medieval Congress, 03-06 July 2017. Leeds, University of Leeds. pp. 70 (session 406) and 157 (session 914)

The WCC organises monthly remote Wikipedia editing sessions in order to continue to reverse the gender skew online and to mobilise change through digital tools as well as providing a positive example for others.{{cite news |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/how-we-doubled-representation-female-classical-scholars-wikipedia |author1=Victoria Leonard |title=How we doubled the representation of female classical scholars on Wikipedia |publisher=Times Higher Education |date=11 June 2017 |access-date=2017-06-22}} Occasional group editing sessions are organised to bring people together to edit to improve the representation of women classicists on Wikipedia, often with training sessions delivered by trainers from the Wikimedia foundation.{{Cite journal|date=2017-09-05|title=Wikipedia:Women's Classical Committee/Events and Workshops|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Women%27s_Classical_Committee/Events_and_Workshops&oldid=799145952|journal=Wikipedia|language=en}}{{Cite journal|date=2017-03-22|title=Wikipedia:Meetups/UK/Institute of Classical Studies Jan 2017|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Meetups/UK/Institute_of_Classical_Studies_Jan_2017&oldid=771575708|journal=Wikipedia|language=en}} By June 2017, the WCC had added thirty-nine articles on female classicists to Wikipedia. In 2018, the WCC wrote to the organisers of the 2019 Fédération internationale des associations d'études classiques and Classical Association joint conference, criticizing their discouragement of proposals for all-female as well as all-male panels (also known as 'manels').{{cite web |last1=Gloyn |first1=Liz |title=WCC UK write to FIEC/CA about manels |url=https://wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2018/05/17/wcc-uk-write-to-fiec-ca-about-manels/ |website=WCC-UK |access-date=26 August 2018 |date=17 May 2018}} Their activism in this regard caused the organisers to revise their policy, stating that 'Following feedback and discussion we accept that we were wrong to initially discourage all women panels'.{{cite web |title=FIEC/CA 2019 Revised Call for Panels and Posters |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/classics/events/FIEC/FIECMainPage |website=www.ucl.ac.uk |access-date=26 August 2018 |language=en}} In recognition of their efforts towards gender fairness and inclusivity in the field of Classics, the organisation was invited to be a nominating body for the 2021 UK Research Excellence Framework assessment.{{cite web |last1=Gloyn |first1=Liz |title=Report from the WCC UK steering committee |url=https://wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2017/10/07/report-from-the-wcc-uk-steering-committee/ |website=WCC-UK |access-date=26 August 2018 |date=7 October 2017}}{{cite web |last1=England |first1=Higher Funding Council of |title=Nominating panel members - REF 2021 |url=http://www.ref.ac.uk/about/nompan/ |website=www.ref.ac.uk |access-date=26 August 2018 |language=en}}

• Women's Classical Committee Wikipedia Project

{{Reflist}}

• [https://wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/ Women's Classical Committee Website]
• [https://classicssocialjustice.wordpress.com/2017/02/01/editing-a-fairer-wikipedia-the-womens-classical-committee-editathon/ Editing a Fairer Wikipedia: The Women’s Classical Committee Editathon]

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Category:Academic organisations based in the United Kingdom

Category:Feminist organisations in the United Kingdom

Category:Classical associations and societies