Guilt and innocence. Virtue and vice. Truth and lies. The story of Adam and Eve has it all. Harvard professor, Shakespeare scholar, Pulitzer Prize winner, and founder of the school of literary studies known as New Historicism Stephen Greenblatt gives a riveting analysis of one of the foundational myths of Western civilization. In The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve, Greenblatt shows how historical figures, from Augustine to Milton to Darwin, grappled with the story’s meaning and traces its journey from allegory to revealed truth before its ultimate debunking by Darwin. After his talk, Greenblatt will be interviewed by human rights expert, law professor, and former dean of Harvard Law School Martha Minow. Stephen Greenblatt has described his lifelong goal as “opening literary studies to the historical, cultural, and, in the broadest sense, anthropological energies that course through great works of art.” Don’t miss this chance to hear one of the world’s leading scholars of literature and the Renaissance discuss the amazing history of Adam and Eve. This session is brought to you by the Plymouth Rock Foundation and Jim and Cathy Stone.
