AAUW Spring Forum: History of Sicily, "Here Lies the Key to Everything"

HISTORY OF SICILY: "HERE LIES THE KEY TO EVERYTHING" GOETHE 1787 begins on Tuesday, March 20,   presented by Douglas Kenning. Historian Kenning, Ph.D. (University of Edinburgh), was raised with a passion for Sicilian culture by his grandparents, Sicilian immigrants into New York’s Little Italy.  As an adult, having lived in Scotland, Tunisia, and Japan, he was drawn again to Sicily, but this time for love of the Sicily that was the second center of ancient Greek civilization. He found the story told in many of the great Greek temples of the Mediterranean as well as in the world’s finest sculptures. His fascination focused on medieval Norman Sicily, when again Sicily was the most civilized place in Europe, a second time she shaped Western civilization, a story told in beautiful mosaics.

Through six lectures, Dr. Kenning will lead the class on a journey that begins in the mists of ancient lore. Then, with images of great art and architecture on the big screen in the Raven Theatre, he continues the journey through Sicily’s historical periods: Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Norman, and Spanish, arriving finally at tourism and the Mafia.

Dr. Kenning lives half of each year in Siracusa, Sicily, where he leads in-depth small-group tours around the island and the greater Mediterranean, and spends the other half of each year giving popular lecture series at Bay Area venues.