Bridges Academy: Religion, Race, and Economics in Cervantes' 'Don Quixote'

Location

Degheri Alumni Center

Free

A Window onto the Complexities of Early Modern Europe

Spain's infamous expulsion of its Jewish population in 1492 is rightfully remembered as one of the low points in the history of relations among Europe's religious communities. Much less familiar today is the expulsion a century later of the Spanish Moriscos, descendants of Iberia's medieval Muslim population. In a lively look at Cervantes'capacious masterpiece Don Quixote, Professor Michael Agnew will illustrate how the novel confronts the Crown's controversial policy in one of its most memorable and troubling episodes, taking us from small-town Spain across international borders to France, North Africa, and Germany. In a scant dozen pages, and with his characteristic wit, Cervantes offers sobering thoughts about banking interests, national debt, the absolutist state and its mercantilist policies, religious liberty, and early modern racial ideologies.

For ages 55 and up.

Please visit www.sandiego.edu/bridges for more information. Registration is required.