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Patrice Rankine

Associate Professor of Classics, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures Office Hours: T 2-3 and W 8-9
Office: SC 146C
Office Phone: (765) 494-3833
Email: rankine@purdue.edu

Specialization: Classics, literature

Patrice D. Rankine earned his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1998 in Classical Languages and Literatures. He is currently Director of Purdue’s Interdisciplinary Program in Classics, and Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Professor Rankine is particularly interested in the relationship between the Classics and African American Studies, classical genres of epic, tragedy and lyric poetry and how they influence black literature, such as Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man or Derek Walcott’s Omeros. Professor Rankine’s book, Ulysses in Black: Ralph Ellison and the Classics in African American Literature, takes Ralph Ellison’s allusions to the Ulysses theme throughout Invisible Man and Juneteenth as a starting point for a broader study of the use of classical literature and myth among African American authors. The book explores how Ellison and other African American writers were able to address modern problems through their mastery of classical languages, literature, and mythology.