2010-2011 Season
	Venice: Queen of the Adriatic October 22 and 23, 2010 Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
	Venice, poised regally on the Adriatic coast, dominated the Eastern Mediterranean beginning in the twelfth century. Her extensive trade network linked Europe to Byzantium, the Moslem world, and even the distant Asian civilizations explored by Marco Polo. With a unique political system, commercial and technical prowess, and tolerant cultural environment, Venice became the most prosperous city in Europe, and a showcase of magnificent art, architecture, music, and fashion. Although eventually overshadowed as a cultural and economic power by emerging nation-states of Western Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Venice followed its own unusual path to lasting material and cultural success.
	> learn more
	Toledo: The Multicultural Challenges of Medieval Spain February 4 and 5, 2011 Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
	For centuries under both Moorish and Spanish rule, Toledo thrived as a cultural, religious, and political center for its Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities. Its artists influenced one another, blending styles in art and architecture, and remained influential enough to still attract El Greco late in the 16th Century. Its philosophers and scientists created a vibrant center of learning, while Latin translations of major Arabic works spread Toledo’s influence throughout Medieval Europe. Does Toledo deserve its reputation as a showcase of "Convivencia," the relatively tolerant and synergistic co-existence of Muslims, Christians, and Jews? Or was its greatness the paradoxical result of tensions and conflicts that simmered beneath the surface until finally boiling over with the expulsion of the Jews (1492) and Muslims (1502)?
	> learn more
	Minoan Crete: The Dawn of European Civilization April 29 and 30, 2011 Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
	A prosperous maritime society flourished on Bronze Age Crete from ~2700 to ~1400 BCE, a thousand years before classical Greek civilization. Egyptian records, paintings of Cretans bearing gifts to the Pharaoh, and Minoan paintings found in Egypt testify to this brilliant culture. The magnificence of its art and architecture and the sophistication of the urban culture of Knossos on Crete were not rediscovered until British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans undertook the excavation and controversial reconstruction of Knossos from 1901-1930. The resulting images of a peaceful, matriarchal society have been increasingly challenged, with archaeological finds in Crete and Santorini that showcase Minoan Crete as a flourishing sea empire. A devastating volcanic eruption at nearby Thera (Santorini), followed by a tsunami, destroyed its navy and economy, triggering its gradual collapse. In the 14th century BCE came influential interaction with the Mycenaean culture developing on the Greek mainland and a shift in power that transmitted and transformed Minoan culture onto the European continent and into a palatial empire that marks the end of one fascinating story and the beginning of yet another.
	> learn more
	> download the Humanities West 2010-2011 Season brochure