UE's Andiron Lecture Series to Feature Guest Speaker
Evansville, Ind. (03/21/2023) — The next installment of the Andiron Lecture Series at the University of Evansville (UE) is set for Wednesday. Assistant Professor of English, Sara Petrosillo, will be giving a lecture to launch her new book entitled Hawking Women: Falconry, Gender, and Control in Medieval Literary Culture. The book was recently published by the Ohio State University Press.
The Andiron Lecture Series, established by UE in 1982, presents research, commentary, and reflection from diverse fields of study and will display Petrosillo's knowledge ranging from feminist theories to medieval manuscript studies.
Petrosillo's lecture will show how cultural literacy in the art of falconry mapped, for medieval readers, onto poetry and challenged patriarchal control. According to Petrosillo, medieval women could teach a lesson on resistance in a culture of training and control, especially when it comes to resisting and reshaping depictions of female bodies. Across medieval art and language, references to ladies with falcons seemed to convey a clear and misogynous message: women are like wild hawks in need of taming. What happens when women, who occupy a subordinate position in the human hierarchy, spend time with hawks and even reclaim hawks as their personal symbols?
In answering this question, Petrosillo's presentation will span centuries and cultures, beginning with an illustrated overview of medieval falconry and concluding with a connection to the modern treatment of women.
The lecture, sponsored by the University of Evansville William L. Ridgway College of Arts and Sciences and Evansville Partners in Women's Reproductive Health, will take place at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22, in the Schroeder School of Business Building, Harkness Hall, (room number 162). The lectures are free and open to the greater Evansville community.
The University of Evansville is a private, comprehensive university located in the southwestern region of Indiana. Established in 1854, UE is recognized across the globe for its rich tradition of innovative, academic excellence and vibrant campus community of changemakers.
Home of the Purple Aces, UE offers over 75 majors, 17 Division I sports, and a unique study abroad experience at Harlaxton College, a Victorian manor located in the countryside of the United Kingdom. For more information, please visit evansville.edu.
MEDIA CONTACT
Noah Alatza, Chief Communications Officer
na122@evansville.edu
812-893-5319
University of Evansville
uerelations@evansville.eduShare this Story
Recent News
- University of Evansville hires former EVSC Superintendent Dr. David Smith to serve as EPN Sustainability Coordinator
- National Champion Alumnus Returns to Lead Surging UE Esports Program
- Bailey Family Gifts $50,000 to Establish Scholarship for UE Education and Health Sciences Students
- University of Evansville Students Join Orr Fellowship's 2026 Cohort; UE Becomes Orr Partner Organization
- UE Announces 2026 MLK Day Lectureship
- MEDIA ADVISORY: University of Evansville to Hold 48th Anniversary Commemoration of 1977 Plane Crash
- UE Opera Receives $35,000 Grant from the William E. Schmidt Foundation
- Services Planned for 48th Anniversary Commemoration of 1977 UE Plane Crash
- UE Athletics and Evansville Promise Neighborhood Team Up to Bring College Basketball to Local Families
- UE Receives Forward Together Grant to Support Community Literacy Initiative