Welcome to the Lecture Hub

Joshua Roberts

Joshua Roberts reviews the chronology of the republic of Ancient Rome and the events that led to the development of Rome as an empire.

Steven Garfinkle

Steven Garfinkle regales the audience with a description and analysis of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest "complete" written work in the pantheon of human literature.

Diane Johnson

Diane Johnson takes a look into the historical context surrounding Sanskrit drama and presents a well-known work by the Shakespeare of Sanskrit literature, Kalidasa.

David Curley

David Curley analyzes the ambiguities inherent in the world's longest narrative poem, the Mahabharata.

Michiko Yusa

Michiko Yusa speaks about the Tale of the Shining Prince, also known as the Tale of Genji. She explains how the Tale of Genji reflects high society in ancient Japan and the impact it had on feminism there.

Kathleen Tomlonovic

The story of The Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history is told by Kathleen Tomlonovic who also goes into detail about the important position it holds in Chinese culture and folklore throughout history.

Byron Stayskal

Byron Stayskal summarizes the two great epics of the Greek tradition, examines some of their striking characteristics, and surveys the various theories about how the poems were created. This examination of particular features of the Iliad and Odyssey then serves as a backdrop for concluding remarks about what makes an artistic work a 'Classic.'

Diane Johnson

Diane Johnson walks us through the story of the Ramayana and its moral and structural differences to western classics.

Diane Johnson

The circumstances surrounding the creation of the Dhammapada, one of the primary texts studied in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, is discussed along with the major tenets of Buddhism.

Steven Garfinkle

Steven Garfinkle returns to the Classical Lecture Series to talk about the babylonian creation epic, the Enûma Eliš, and the cultural traditions associated with Babylonian epic traditions.

Michiko Yusa

Michiko Yusa and her students recite and discuss classical Japanese poetry and give a sense of the concept of "mujo" or "impermanence".

Nicholas Margaritis

A witty analysis of François Rabelais, literati and satirist, is given by Nicholas Margaritis as he unravels Rabelais' labyrinthine references to other famous works.

Various Artists

What began as filler for the 2009 MCL Cage Match has grown into its own event. The MCL faculty open up and express themselves through their artistic passions.