Shelley Haley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Shelley Haley
Haley in 2019
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Syracuse University University of Michigan
Scientific career
Institutions	Hamilton College, New York
Thesis	The Role of Amicitia in the Life of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus

Shelley P. Haley is a professor who teaches about ancient Greece and Rome (called Classics) and African American history and culture (called Africana Studies) at Hamilton College in New York. In 2021, she became the President of the Society for Classical Studies. She is known for using Black feminist and critical race ideas to study and teach Classics. This means she looks at ancient history and literature through the experiences of Black women and how race has been understood over time.

Education and Early Life

Shelley Haley started her college journey at Syracuse University, where she earned her first degree in 1972. She then received a special scholarship called a Danforth Fellowship to continue her studies. She went on to get her master's degree in 1975 and her Ph.D. in 1977 from the University of Michigan. Her Ph.D. paper was about the role of friendship in the life of a famous Roman general named Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.

Professor and Scholar

After finishing her studies, Professor Haley began teaching. She taught at Luther College from 1977 to 1978. Then, she taught at Howard University from 1979 to 1985. In 1989, she joined the faculty at Hamilton College, where she still teaches today.

She has also been a visiting scholar at other universities. These include Washington University in St. Louis in 2002 and Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 2013.

Professor Haley uses special ways of thinking, like Black feminist and critical race approaches, to study Classics. She has explored many interesting topics. These include the roles of men and women in the ancient world. She also studies Latin and Greek languages and literature. She looks at how race is taught in classical studies. She has also researched the important work of African-American women in Classics, like Fanny Jackson Coppin.

Haley has shared that it was sometimes hard early in her career. She became interested in race in the ancient world by teaching students about Cleopatra. She also researched African-American scholars from the 1800s who studied Classics.

Media Appearances

Professor Haley has appeared on TV shows as an expert on Roman history and Cleopatra. She was featured on TLC's Rome: Power and Glory in 1999. She also appeared on Timewatch in an episode called In Search of Cleopatra. More recently, she was in season 2 of Netflix's African Queens, which focused on Cleopatra. In these shows, she shares her knowledge about ancient history. She has explored different ideas about Cleopatra's background, noting that we don't know her exact family history.

Leadership and Recognition

Professor Haley has been a leader in several important groups. She helped start The Kirkland Project, which studies gender and culture. She also helped create the Institute for Global African Studies (IGAS). Another group she co-founded is the Multiculturalism, Race, and Ethnicity in Classics Consortium (MRECC).

In September 2019, Professor Haley was chosen to be the President of the Society for Classical Studies for 2021. This was a very special moment because she was the first African-American person to hold this important position.

She has received many awards for her excellent teaching and research. Some of these include:

• The Excellence in Teaching of the Classics at College Level Award from the Society for Classical Studies in 2017.
• The Samuel and Helen Long Prize for Excellence in Teaching from Hamilton College in 2015.
• The Merit Award from the American Classical League in 2007.
• An Outstanding Woman of the Year Award in Education from the YWCA of the Mohawk Valley in 1999.

In 2020, a special journal called The Haley Classical Journal was started in her honor.

Selected Works

Professor Haley has written and spoken a lot about Cleopatra. She has also shared her ideas on Black Feminist Pedagogy. This is a way of teaching that focuses on the experiences and knowledge of Black women. She has also explored how studying Classics has impacted African-American women.

Some of her works include:

• "When I Enter: Disrupting the White, Heteronormative Narrative of Librarianship" (2018).
• "Be Not Afraid of the Dark: Critical Race Theory and Classical Studies" (2009).
• "Fanny Jackson Coppin's Reminiscences of a School Life and Hints on Teaching" (1995).
• "Black Feminist Thought and Classics: Re-membering, Re-claiming, Re-empowering" (1993).
• "The Five Wives of Pompey the Great" (1985).