By Victoria Durgin, Asst. Digital Media Editor
Bucknell professor James Goodale spoke about art and politics in Tudor-period England during a lecture on Feb. 6 in Degenstein Theater. Goodale spoke to members of the Institute for Lifelong Learning (ILL) as part of its 2018-19 lecture series.
Goodale teaches history courses at Bucknell University. He spoke previously at Susquehanna to the members of the ILL in 2017.
In his introduction of the speaker, Program Coordinator Joe Herb praised both Goodale’s speaking ability and his passion for the subject he discussed.
Herb described Goodale and his lecture as “enjoyable, instructive and enlightening” and thanked the professor for returning to Susquehanna to speak once again.
Goodale began his lecture on Tudor England not with a discussion on kings and queens, but with one on presidents. He displayed pictures of former U.S. Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton. With each photo Goodale explained what message the picture could convey to the viewer.
For example, the Obama family released pictures of themselves riding bikes in a park to show their “Americanness” to the American public and Bill Clinton went to McDonald’s after a run to convey a sense of humility, according to Goodale.
Goodale told the audience that pictures have always been used by those in power to convey certain messages to their subjects. The conversation of American presidents then transitioned into one about English kings and queens.
Goodale took the audience through several portraits and paintings from the Tudor period of England. With each picture he put on the screen Goodale offered his commentary and analysis.
He began with the founder of the Tudor dynasty, Henry VII, and a portrait of the king sent to eligible women as a kind of marriage advertisement. Goodale joked the portrait was not entirely successful.
“This portrait said ‘come and marry me.’ No one married him,” Goodale told the audience with a laugh.
He then analyzed several pictures of Queen Elizabeth I and explained to the audience how some conveyed to the viewer her strength as a leader while others showed her flaws, primarily the fact that she was unmarried and without children.
In each of the portraits Goodale pointed out details and offered background information on the history of the time period in which they were painted. He ended the lecture with a painting of a dead Queen Elizabeth I, joking it was a “good place to end” the discussion.
Goodale then fielded questions from the audience before the program ended.
The ILL is a program open to senior members of the Susquehanna and Selinsgrove communities. According to Herb, the ILL aims to serve adults who want to maintain an active intellectual and social life after retirement.
The program runs a lecture series every year with topics ranging from climate to American presidential history, as shown in this year’s program of events.
The ILL will host a speaker again on Feb. 20 in Degenstein Theater, and will feature Kay Cramer, a member of the ILL herself, discussing the Climate Reality Project