Scottish poet and playwright, Liz Lochhead will speak on the subject of ‘Mythological Women’ at this week's prestigious Stevenson and Adam Smith Research Foundation lecture at 6pm on Thursday 5 February in the Sir Charles Wilson Building. 
  
In her lecture, Liz Lochhead will use readings of speeches from her plays to talk about Medea from the Greek tragedy; about Frankenstein's Frankenstein, Mary Shelley; about the Mary Queen of Scots who got her Head Chopped Off and her nemesis Elizabeth the First of England, 'Good Queen Bess'.  It will be argued that these colossal female figures exist even more vividly now than they ever did in history, as mythic archetypes, as cultural icons.  The speaker will also consider the other side of the coin, exploring the archetypal 'The Maid' or 'The Nurse' character in drama, the one who is the Everywoman, the bystander to the Big Event, the one who is nevertheless free to say the unacceptable, to comment, express on our behalf the disquiet of the audience.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond is to lecture on the theme of ‘Citizenship and Scottish Civic Culture’ on 5 March. Earlier in the current series, Rt Hon George Reid, Stevenson Professor and former Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, spoke on ‘Sentiments for Scotland’. Economist, philanthropist and Nobel Prize winner, Professor Muhammad Yunus was awarded an Honorary Degree by the University of Glasgow before his Stevenson lecture on Social Business for a New Global Economic Architecture.

All lectures are free and open to the public but people must register in advance for the First Minister's lecture by emailing C.Laidlaw@admin.gla.ac.uk or calling 0141 330 4978.

Further information:
Martin Shannon, Media Relations Officer,
University of Glasgow Tel: 0141 330 8593

The Stevenson and Adam Smith Research Foundation Lecture Series 2008-9

As part of the 250th anniversary celebrations of the publication of Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) the theme of the series is Citizenship and Scottish Civic Culture.

THURSDAY 5 FEBRUARY
Liz Lochhead:  Scottish poet, playwright and cultural commentator  
Mythological Women

MONDAY 23 FEBRUARY
Gordon Smith: Chief Executive of Scottish Football Association
Citizenship and Sport   

THURSDAY 5 MARCH
Alex Salmond:  First Minister of Scotland
“All constitutions of government, however, are valued only in proportion as they tend to promote the happiness of those who live under them” Adam Smith TMS. Lecture is free but attendees must register in advance by emailing C.Laidlaw@admin.gla.ac.uk

All lectures start at 6pm.

First published: 2 February 2009

<< January