Bio

Grant Parker joined Stanford in 2006, having taught previously at Duke University. He has long researched and taught Latin literature and Roman imperial culture, e.g. The Making of Roman India (2008). Other publications include The Agony of Asar: a former slave's defence of slavery, 1742 (2001) and, as editor, South Africa, Greece, Rome: classical confrontations (2017). Since 2025 he has also taught African Studies in the newly constituted Department of African and African American Studies. As a comparative global humanist, his interest in monuments, collective memory and their media is expressed by several articles on obelisks and statues. Another ongoing theme is enslavement and its aftermaths, ancient and modern. Current work engages monument-mindedness in Southern Africa as well as the global reception of Virgil's poetry. His many roles on campus have included the Stanford Archaeology Center, the Center for African Studies, and Residential Education.

Academic Appointments

  • Associate Professor, Classics
  • Associate Professor, African and African American Studies
  • Associate Professor (By courtesy), Comparative Literature

Administrative Appointments

  • Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2008 - 2009)
  • Resident Fellow, Toyon Hall, Stanford University (2010 - Present)
  • Assistant to Associate Professor, Department of Classics, Stanford University (2006 - Present)
  • Honorary appointment, Department of History, Duke University (2005 - 2006)
  • Hunt Family Assistant Professor of Classical Studies, Duke University (2004 - 2006)
  • Assistant Professor of Latin, Department of Classical Studies, Duke University (2001 - 2006)
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Classical Studies, University of Michigan (1999 - 2001)
  • Assistant in Instruction and Lecturer in Latin, Princeton University (1998 - 1999)
  • Junior Lecturer, Department of Classics, University of the Witwatersrand (1989 - 1991)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Michigan Society of Fellows, University of Michigan (1999 - 2001)

Honors & Awards

  • Nominated as one of ten 'Standout Scholars' under the age of forty, Black Issues in Higher Education (2003)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Chair, Department of Classics (2019 - Present)
  • Chair, Department of Classics (2015 - 2018)
  • Co-Director, Center for African Studies (2014 - 2015)
  • Member of Bing Overseas Studies Program Oversight Committee, Stanford University (2013 - Present)
  • Academic Press Referee, Cambridge University Press (2013 - 2013)
  • Chair of Tenure Review Committee, Stanford University (2013 - 2013)
  • Journal Referee, Historia (2013 - 2013)
  • Faculty Library Committee, Stanford University (2012 - 2015)
  • Member of Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Committee, American Philological Association (2012 - 2015)
  • Academic Press Referee, Cambridge University Press (2012 - 2012)
  • Chair of Search Committee, Stanford University (2012 - 2012)
  • Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Classics, Stanford University (2011 - 2015)
  • Academic Press Referee, I.B. Tauris (2010 - 2010)
  • Journal Referee, Comparative Studies in Society and History (2010 - 2010)
  • Journal Referee, Classical Journal (2010 - 2010)
  • Journal Referee, Journal of Roman Studies (2010 - 2010)
  • Journal Referee, Arethusa (2010 - 2010)
  • Academic Press Referee, Oxford University Press (2009 - 2009)
  • Academic Press Referee, Cambridge University Press (2009 - 2009)
  • Academic Press Referee, Palgrave MacMillan (2009 - 2009)
  • Journal Referee, Classical Receptions (2009 - 2009)
  • Journal Referee, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (2009 - 2009)
  • Journal Referee, Classical Antiquity (2009 - 2009)
  • Academic Press Referee, Princeton University Press (2008 - 2008)
  • Journal Referee, Art Bulletin (2008 - 2008)
  • Academic Press Referee, Blackwell Publishers (2007 - 2007)
  • Academic Press Referee, Witwatersrand University Press (2007 - 2007)
  • Journal Referee, American Journal of Philology (2007 - 2007)
  • Member of Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Committee, American Philological Association (2006 - 2008)
  • Academic Press Referee, Yale University Press (2004 - 2004)
  • Academic Press Referee, Blackwell Publishers (2004 - 2004)
  • Journal Referee, Comparative Studies in Society and History (2001 - 2001)
  • Academic Press Referee, Markus Wiener Publishers (2000 - 2011)
  • Journal Referee, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (2000 - 2000)
  • Journal Referee, American Journal of Philology (2000 - 2000)

Professional Education

  • B.A., University of Cape Town, English and Latin (1987)
  • B.A. (Honours), University of Cape Town, Latin (1988)
  • M.A., University of Cape Town, Latin (1991)
  • Ph.D., Princeton University, Classical Philology (1999)

Contact

  • Academic
    grparker@stanford.edu
    University - Faculty Department: Classics Position: Assoc Professor
    • Building 110
    • Main Quad
    • 450 Jane Stanford Way
    • Stanford,  California  94305 
    (650) 725-3801 (fax)
    University - Faculty Department: African and African American Studies Position: Assoc Professor (650) 725-3801 (fax)

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 2145

Links

Projects

  • Museum of South African Museums, Stanford University

    Relational database of South Africa's museums, hosted by CESTA

    Location

    Stanford, California

    Collaborators

    • Dillon Gisch, Project manager, Stanford University
  • Egypt in South Africa

    Location

    Stanford, California

2025-26 Courses

Stanford Advisees

All Publications

  • Mobile monumentality: the case of obelisks Approaching Monumentality in Archaeology Parker, G. R. edited by Osborne, J. Buffalo: SUNY Press. 2014
  • Tarda solacia: liminal temporalities of Statius' Silvae The Roman Paratext Parker, G. R. edited by Jansen, L. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2014: 112–128
  • Ashoka the Greek, converted and translated Volume on King Ashoka in history and historical memory Parker, G. R. edited by Olivelle, P., Leoshko, J., Ray, H. P. Delhi: Oxford University Press. 2012: 310–326
  • Capitein, Jacobus Elisa Johannes Dictionary of African Biography Parker, G. R. edited by Gates, Jr., H. L., Akyeampong, E. W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research and Oxford University Press. 2011
  • Heraclitus on the Highveld: the universalism (ancient and modern) of T.J. Haarhoff Classics and National Cultures Parker, G. R. edited by Stehens, S. A., Vasunia, P. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2010: 217–234
  • India cartographica Some Roman sightings NEGOTIATING CULTURAL IDENTITY: LANDSCAPES IN EARLY MEDIEVAL SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY, 2ND EDITION Parker, G., Ray, H. 2020: 13–33

    View details for Web of Science ID 000547961800003

  • Inflections of myth in Ausonius' Epigrams Mythos im Alltag-Alltag im Mythos. Die Banalität des Alltags in unterschiedlichen literarischen Verwendungskontexten Parker, G. R. edited by Schmitz, C. Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink. 2010: 161–174
  • Can the subaltern speak Latin? The case of Capitein Latinity and Alterity Parker, G. R. edited by Haskell, Y., Ruys, J. F. Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies and BREPOLS. 2010: 241–258
  • Obelisks Harvard Guide to the Classical Tradition Parker, G. R. edited by Grafton, A. T., Most, G., Settis, S. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 2010
  • India Harvard Guide to the Classical Tradition Parker, G. R. edited by Grafton, A. T., Most, G., Settis, S. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 2010
  • Geography Harvard Guide to the Classical Traditions Parker, G. R. edited by Grafton, A. T., Most, G., Settis, S. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 2010
  • East and West Harvard Guide to the Classical Traditions Parker, G. R. edited by Grafton, A. T., Most, G., Settis, S. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 2010
  • Barbarians Harvard Guide to the Classical Tradition Parker, G. R. edited by Grafton, A. T., Most, G., Settis, S. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 2010
  • Highways into byways: travels of Tiberius Antichthon Parker, G. R. 2009; 43: 64-78
  • Isis Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome Parker, G. R. edited by Gagarin, M. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009
  • Cleopatra Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome Parker, G. R. edited by Gagarin, M. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009
  • The gender of travel: Cynthia and others Materiali e Discussioni per analisi del testi classici Parker, G. R. 2009
  • Ancient India in its Wider World edited by Parker, G. R., Sinopoli, C. Ann Arbor: Center for South and South East Asian Studies, University of Michigan. 2008
  • Images of Mediterranean India: representing the subcontinent in ancient Greek and Roman art Ancient India and its Wider World Parker, G. R. edited by Parker, G. R., Sinopoli, C. 2008: 106–126
  • Mediterranean Passages: readings from Dido to Derrida edited by Cooke, M., Göknar, E., Parker, G. R. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2008
  • The Making of Roman India Parker, G. R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2008
  • Topographies of taste: Indian textiles and Mediterranean contexts Ars Orientalis Parker, G. R. 2007; 34: 19-37
  • Mapping the Mediterranean JOURNAL OF MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN STUDIES Parker, G. 2007; 37 (1): 1-7

    View details for DOI 10.1215/10829636-2006-008

    View details for Web of Science ID 000243650100001

  • Hellenism in an Afghan context Memory as History: the legacy of Alexander in Asia Parker, G. R. edited by Ray, H. P., Potts, D. T. New Delhi: Aryan Books International. 2007: 170–191
  • Obelisks still in exile: Monuments made to measure? 3rd International Conference of Isis Studies Parker, G. E J BRILL. 2007: 209–222

    View details for Web of Science ID 000246166900010

  • Narrating monumentality: the Piazza Navona obelisk Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology Parker, G. R. 2003; 16 (2): 193-215
  • Breyten Breytenbach Encyclopaedia of African Literature Parker, G. R. edited by Gikandi, S. London: Routledge. 2003: 77–79
  • Ex oriente luxuria: Indian commodities and Roman experience Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Parker, G. R. 2002; 45 (1): 40-95
  • The Agony of Asar: a thesis on slavery by the former slave, Jacobus Eliza Johannes Capitein, 1717-1747 Translated by Parker, G. R., Capitein, J. E. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers. 2001
  • Crossings: Early Mediterranean contacts with India (Book Review) JOURNAL OF ROMAN STUDIES Book Review Authored by: Parker, G. 2001; 91: 197-197

    View details for Web of Science ID 000174293200013

  • Sitting down with the Barrington Atlas Journal of Roman Archaeology Alcock, S. E., Dey, H. W., Parker, G. 2001; 14: 454-461
  • Porous connections: the Mediterranean and the Red Sea Thesis Eleven Parker, G. R. 2001; 67: 59-79
  • The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world of Borden and Purcell Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology Parker, G. R. 2000; 13 (2): 228-232
  • Review of Taprobane: Ancient Sri Lanka as known to Greeks and Romans - D.P.M. Weerakkody Scholia Parker, G. R. 1999; 8: 115-120
  • Review of The Jews in Late Ancient Rome: evidence of cultural interaction in the Roman Diaspora - Leonard Victor Rutgers Scholia Parker, G. R. 1997; 6: 118-122
  • Intimations of immortality: a study of perennis Acta Classica Parker, G. R. 1993; 36: 119-127
  • The physical being and circulation of ancient literature: an introduction Akroterion Parker, G. R. 1992; 37 (3-4): 114-133
  • ORPHEUS IN THE 18TH-CENTURY, THE USE OF MYTH IN GLUCK 'ORFEO ED EURIDICE' ENGLISH STUDIES IN AFRICA Parker, G. 1992; 35 (2): 25-38

    View details for Web of Science ID A1992KY57400002

  • Patronage of letters in the early Roman Empire Akroterion Parker, G. R. 1991; 36 (4): 140-152
  • Euhoe, parce Liber: Horace on wine and poetic inspiration South African Journal of Folklore Studies Parker, G. R. 1991; 2: 40-50
  • The 'divine machinery' of the Aeneid Akroterion Parker, G. R. 1989; 34 (2): 181-190