Alex Gottesman, Assistant Professor of Classics at Temple University, speaks on his book-in-progress,  The Athenian Street: Performance and Politics in Democratic Athens, which examines the interplay between classical Athens’ formal institutions—namely the assembly, council and courts—and informal performances of the street, such as festivals, processions and other kinds of public displays.  In his lecture, Prof. Gottesman explores the tensions that existed between these two kinds of public spheres (the theatrical and the deliberative), and the intellectual and institutional responses that they provoked.

Prof. Gottesman received his PhD from the University of Chicago.  He is interested broadly in Greek literature and political thought.