There is no doubt that Joan of Arc—15th-century heroine or heretic, depending on your point of view—led an extraordinary life. No less compelling are her seemingly countless, often contradictory, cultural afterlives. How can one person mean so much?

This Humanities Day session will examine some of the ways in which the figure of Joan has been invoked and deployed over the centuries since her execution to serve a dizzying array of religious, political, cultural, and artistic ends, from symbol of France, to figure of resistance, to model of personal integrity and courage.

Join Daisy Delogu, the Howard L. Willett Professor in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the College and Faculty Director of the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality at the University of Chicago, in the study room for a presentation that will be illustrated in part by a small selection of objects on display from the Smart Museum of Art's collection. 

FREE, but space is limited. Register online at humanitiesday.uchicago.edu.

HUMANITIES DAY

An annual tradition at the University of Chicago since 1980, Humanities Day celebrates the humanities with free discussions, tours, performances, and lectures featuring the latest research of the award-winning faculty in the Division of the Humanities.

Image: Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu, Joan of Arc at Domrémy, after 1870–1872, Cast bronze. Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Purchase, Gift of the Friends of the Smart Gallery, 1986.12.