Monday, June 6, 2011

Cleopatra Lecture at Sierra College, CA


Cleopatra: Myth and Reality
Charlayne D. Allan, Lecturer Emerita, University of California, Davis
Friday, June 10, 7:30 p.m.
Sierra College Tahoe-Truckee Campus
11001 College Trail, Truckee, CA 96161
No charge. Space is limited so please reserve your seat by calling 530-550-2290

Since her death in 30 BC, the image of Cleopatra VII, last queen of Egypt, has been re-imagined and re-shaped, in large measure reflecting the time and culture that produced these divergent images. To the Romans of her era, she was a sexual temptress who led good men astray; to the medieval Chaucer, the model of a good wife; to Shakespeare, the heroine of a memorable love story; to Renaissance artists, a helpless (usually nude and swooning) victim; to twentieth century film-makers, a beautiful and playful coquette.

Who was this most famous woman of antiquity? Professor Charlayne Allan will guide us through an illustrated lecture to explore the reality and dispel some of the myths that surrounded Cleopatra–even in her own lifetime.

About Charlayne Allan:
Charlayne Allan is passionate about all topics related to the Ancient Greek and Roman World, with special interest in Latin, Mythology, and Women in Antiquity. She retired from the UC Davis Classics Department in June 2005, concluding a teaching career of 35 years. She continued to work part-time for the next two years, teaching Latin at UNR, as well as at the Davidson Academy, a public school for gifted students on the UNR campus. She and her husband, a UCD retired professor of geography, now divide their time between Reno and their cabin in Tahoe Donner. At UCD and previously at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, she taught Latin, classical mythology, and literature courses in English translation. At both universities, she introduced courses on women in the ancient world, one of her major areas of research and teaching.

Allan holds a BA in Classics from Berea College, Berea, Kentucky and an MA in Latin from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.

About the Dean’s Lecture Series:
The Dean’s Lecture Series is a special program selected by the Dean of the Truckee-Tahoe campus of Sierra College to celebrate lifelong learning. Dean Kimberly Bateman selected Experts & Insights as the Dean’s Lecture Series for 2009/10 to showcase local academic talent and to thank the community for their support of the new Truckee campus. Due to an outstanding response, filling the classroom at each event, Experts & Insights will continue as the Dean’s Lecture Series for 2010/11.

Experts & Insights offers an opportunity for intellectual exchange across a range of scholarly subjects and issues. Each month, a different professor will present a fascinating look at his or her research-based study using a variety of teaching methods including lecture, discussion, character enactment, slides, music and other state of the art technology.

This program is offered to the community at no charge, thanks to the generosity of Sierra College and the Experts & Insights faculty.

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