University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

MEDIA RELEASE

Oviatt Library Lecture to Revisit the Golden Age of Elizabeth I

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Oct. 16, 2007) — Members of the public are invited to join Cal State Northridge faculty, staff and students on Thursday, Oct. 25, as they temporarily journey back to the Golden Age of English history and explore the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Students and speakers will be in Elizabethan regalia for the special lecture on the life and times of Elizabeth I scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. in the Presentation Room of the Oviatt Library, located in the center of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

The lecture complements an exhibit, "The Sun That Lights the Rainbow: The Life and Times of Elizabeth I," that runs through Dec. 20 in the library’s C.K. and Teresa Tseng Gallery and features period and modern books, pictures and artifacts that describe what is often referred to as the Golden Age of English history.

Next week’s lecture will feature presentations by CSUN associate professor of history Jeffrey Auerbach, who will talk about "Queen Elizabeth: A Woman in a Man’s World;" CSUN anthropology professor Sabina Magliocco, who will speak on "Witchcraft, Magic and the Birth of Science in the Age of Elizabeth I," and collectors Tom and Jean Seehof, who will discuss Elizabethan clothing and how they became collectors of such costumes.

"An air of authenticity will be added to the evening as some of our students will be wearing some of the costumes that the Seehofs have given the university," said Tony Gardner, curator of the gallery exhibition.

Gardner pointed out that when Elizabeth I became queen of England, the Middle Ages were the recent past and the Renaissance was on the horizon. "It was a time of new ideas, exploration of new worlds and explosion of literature and theater, of religious unrest and the rise of a growing middle class."

The exhibit’s hours correspond with the library’s hours, which are Monday through Thursday from 7:45 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

For more information about the exhibit, call the library at (818) 677-2638.