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Putnam County Public Library welcomes Dr. Michael Seaman for A Grand Tour of Italy

Dr. Michael Seaman,  Associate Professor of Classical Studies and Italian Studies at DePauw University, will host a six-part set of talks on the history, art, and architecture of Italy in his series A Grand Tour of Italy, at the Putnam County Public Library this fall.

 

Beginning October 25, Seaman will present weekly talks focusing on the two northern Italian cities most famous for their history and art, Venice and Florence.

 

“This lecture series will be a Grand Tour of the history, art, and architecture of Italy,” said Seaman. “It will be loosely modeled on the Grand Tour of Italy undertaken by British aristocrats in the 17th and 18th centuries when young British gentry traveled to Italy in search of the foundations of Western Civilization, observing up close the history, art, and culture of the Bel Paese, the ‘Beautiful Country’.”

 

Seaman earned his graduate degrees in ancient history at UCLA. He and his wife, Francesca, have been teaching at DePauw for 18 years and have taken hundreds of DePauw students and alumni with them on tours of Italy.

 

Topics for the fall series of talks include:

Tuesday, October 25th – An Introduction to the Grand Tour of Italy

Tuesday, November 1st – The History of Venice, la Serenissima

Tuesday, November 8th – Medieval Art and Architecture of Venice

Thursday, November 17th – Renaissance Art and Architecture of Venice (note: this week meets on a Thursday)

Tuesday, November 22nd – The History of Florence

Tuesday, November 29th – Early Renaissance Art of Florence

 

Registration is encouraged, but not required. Attendees may attend one session or all six. Optional background reading will be made available for participants. Those interested can register at: https://forms.gle/wp2SycjZappw5DWY9 or by calling the library at 765-653-2755.

 

 

 

Dr. Michael Seaman Bio:

Dr. Michael Seaman has traveled through Italy over the past 30 years and knows the country intimately. Mike earned his graduate degrees in ancient history from UCLA and is currently Associate Professor of Classical Studies at DePauw University. He has taught a variety of classes at DePauw since 2004, including history classes on ancient Rome and the Italian Renaissance. Together with his wife, Francesca (a Professor of Italian at DePauw), he co-directs the popular DePauw Summer in Italy Program. Since 2009, he and his wife Francesca have taken over 300 DePauw students to Italy and Greece for study and travel. Mike has also led sold-out DePauw alumni tours to Greece and Italy. His research focuses on ancient Greek and Roman history, in particular ancient Greek and Roman history and ancient warfare. His studies of ancient warfare have appeared in the journal Historia: Journal for Ancient History, as well as in edited volumes published by Oxford University Press and Wiley-Blackwell. He is currently completing a book entitled Ancient Greek Siege Warfare from Homer to Alexander and is editing a book forthcoming by Brill on asymmetric warfare in the ancient world. Mike and Francesca live in Greencastle with their six children.

 

 

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