Gender Benders: Pope Joan and Queen Elizabeth

2/25/13

Randolph-Macon College will present Gender Benders: Pope Joan and Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. in Room 212, Old Chapel.

Craig Rustici will discuss his findings on why sixteenth-century English printers published extraordinarily few texts devoted to the sensational exploits of Pope Joan, an apocryphal, medieval woman who allegedly disguised herself as a man and became a Roman Catholic pontiff. Rustici argues that writings might have raised uncomfortable comparisons to Queen Elizabeth.

This Gender Benders Series lecture is sponsored by the R-MC women’s studies program, the history department, the sociology department, the First-Year Experience program, and the Committee on Assemblies and Special Events (CASE). This event is free and open to the public.