Bret Devereaux

To be clear, I don't think that is the pinnacle of the possible. A lot of the enthusiast material I see, I find myself wishing they had more formal training so they could add deeper layers of analysis to the foundational material they are laying out. 4/16

But they are reaching people and in doing so, claiming a public value for the work we do which is absolutely necessary for funding the work we do, be it via public funds or tuition dollars (which require butts-in-seats). In the end, we are reliant on the public. 5/16

(Don't misunderstand me, Eidolon was important, and outreach isn't the only kind of communication we need to do. Views aren't everything, but they *do* matter if the goal is to reach the public and we need to reach the public if we want to still have departments in a decade.)7/16

And yes, YouTube is different in views, but I can say with some confidence that even with a text-heavy blog, greater reach is possible. ACOUP does Eidolon's lifetime numbers each year and I know a committed public engagement classics publication could beat that handily. 8/16

This all comes from a place of real concern - I know we debate a lot on Classics Twitter (TM) about what Classics should be (and that's important!) but I find myself mostly worried about 'will this field - whatever its better form is - survive at all?' 9/16

We're set to lose at least two important classics departments (UVM and Howard). How many more are on the chopping block at SLC that don't make national news? How many Latin programs? Folks, the Classics apocalypse (LBAC?) isn't coming - it's here. Troy is burning *now.* 10/16

Absolutely we need to be having discussions about the shape of the field we want to save - but we also need to save it for that to matter. It does us no good if we settle on a more inclusive classics which only survives in a handful of elite institutions and nowhere else. 11/16

So we've got to come out of our crumbling towers and meet the people where they are. If we're going to have a new, better classics, public outreach is the place to build it - not endless faculty debates. For better or for worse, the courses will have to follow demand. 12/16

To be clear, that doesn't mean we need necessarily more #ClassicsDiscourse. It means we need to start modeling our newer, better, more inclusive classics *to the public* (not just our students) at large and show its value and superior outreach potential. 13/16

And I know in writing this I am preaching to the choir. So many of the classicists I know on twitter are *already* working hard doing good public-facing work. But we need more of it and we need to be smarter about how we do it. 13/16

And of course in the end that means that hiring and tenure committees need to learn to value it - which may mean something as hopelessly crass as judging public engagement by actual reach (read: views), rather than by how it drives the #ClassicsDiscourse. 14/16

Because we all know that when it comes to jobs, public engagement doesn't 'count.' You get what you pay for. It's not the only thing that matters, but if we don't re-engage the public with our field, we're not going to be able to do any of the other things either. end/16