The murky depths that separate pirate lore from fact will be cleared up Wednesday, April 6, when a Vanderbilt dean and history professor gives a talk on “Pirates Through History.”
College of Arts and Science Dean Lauren Benton will speak at the Nashville Public Library, located at 615 Church St. The event is part of the Thinking Out of the (Lunch) Box: Conversations With a Philosophical Flavor series.
A limited number of lunches will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Lunch will begin at 11:30 a.m. Benton begins speaking at noon.
“We are all familiar with movies and books that depict pirates in history as stateless rogues – the predecessors, in fact, of modern terrorists,” said Benton, dean of the College of Arts and Science at Vanderbilt and the Nelson O. Tyrone, Jr. Professor of History.
“History tells a different story,” she said. “[rquote]The talk will expose the most common myths about pirates across the early modern world and about the legal means used to control them.”[/rquote]
Thinking Out of the (Lunch) Box: Conversations With a Philosophical Flavor is hosted by David Wood, the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt and founder of the series. It is sponsored by Friends of the Nashville Public Library, with additional funding provided by the Kendall Berry Charitable Trust. No reservations are needed. The lunch and talk are free and open to the public, but a $5 donation is suggested to help defray costs.