University Guild Program: Richard III in Literature

Please attend the University Guild program…..Richard III in Literature
with Professor Glenn Sucich, PhD, Senior Lecturer in English, Northwestern University on Monday, March 3, 2014, at 1:30 pm in Scott Hall, Guild Lounge, 601 University Place, on Northwestern University’s beautiful campus.  

Since Shakespeare's famous depiction of Richard III as a "the slave of nature and the son of hell" (1.3.228), the last Plantagenet king has become almost synonymous with tyranny and political treachery.  His reputation as the king who killed anyone and everyone, including his own nephews, to gain the throne has, for centuries, been the subject of films, novels, and biographies, almost all of which follow Shakespeare in portraying Richard as a ruthless politician whose physical deformities were the outward expression of his inward corruption.  The recent discovery of Richard's remains, however, has raised new questions about the veracity of these claims, as well as about the motives that have given rise to them.  In this talk, we will explore the history and literature surrounding one of England's most notorious kings.  In particular, we will consider whether Richard's reputation as the embodiment of evil owes anything to fact, or whether it is yet another example of the ways in which history is written by the winners. 

Professor Glenn Sucich is a Weinberg College Adviser and Senior Lecturer in English.  He earned his B.A. in History from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D. in English from Northwestern University.  Since joining the faculty of Northwestern's English Department in 2005, he has taught classes on Milton, Shakespearean comedy and tragedy, the history of hell, the genre of epic, and the relationship among magic, science, and religion during the Early Modern period in Europe.  In 2009, he received the WCAS Arts and Sciences Alumni Teaching Award and has been selected multiple times to the Associated Student Government Faculty Honor Roll.  His research focuses on the intersection of Early Modern religion and natural philosophy, particularly in the work of John Milton and his contemporaries.  He has published articles on Milton, the poet Samuel Butler, and the Early Modern physician and natural philosopher William Harvey.  When he's not working with students at Northwestern, he enjoys spending time with his wife and three sons in and around their home in Chicago.

Next University Guild Program:  American Beauty:  100 Years of Cosmetics with Leslie Goddard, Actress, Historian, Author, on Monday, March 17th, at 1:30 pm.   

Remember Fire and Ice lipstick? What about rubber girdles and cake mascara? From squeezing into corsets to smearing their skin with cosmetics, American women have gone to amusing and sometimes horrifying lengths in their quest for beauty. Travel through more than a century of magazine ads, photographs, and vintage memorabilia to learn the fascinating stories behind such female enhancements.  Web site:  http://www.lesliegoddard.info/

The University Guild’s Annual Membership is $50.  Membership is open to all in the community.  Guests are welcome and cost is $2.00 per program.   The purpose of the University Guild is to bring to the membership of the Guild the intellectual resources of the University, to promote the interests of the University, to work for the collection and exhibition of the objects of art, and to advance the development and appreciation of the fine arts in the University and in Evanston.  The University Guild also gives scholarships to students at Northwestern University.