Slide lecture offered on pilgrimage to Compostela
Oct. 2, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- When visiting scholar Linda Davidson speaks about the pilgrimage to Compostela at Western Michigan University Tuesday, Oct. 9, she will do so from experience. The University of Rhode Island professor has personally made the roughly 600-mile trek four times.
Davidson will present a slide lecture titled "On the Road: The Pilgrimage to Compostela" at 4 p.m. in Room 3021 of Brown Hall. Sponsored by the WMU departments of Foreign Languages and Literatures, English, Comparative Religion and History and the Medieval Institute, her presentation is free and open to the public.
As a four-time director of the University of Rhode Island's Santiago Pilgrimage Program, Davidson has taken students on the 620-mile walk from southern France to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. While on the road, students engage in courses in medieval art, history and literature. Davidson has co-written a number of publications on the Compostela pilgrimage, including "The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook," "The Pilgrimage to Compostela in the Middle Ages: A Book of Essays," "The Miracles of St. James: Translations from the 'Liber Sancti Jacobi'," "The Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela: A Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography" and "Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages: A Research Guide." She also is the coordinator of Friends of the Road to Santiago, an organization that disseminates information on the Santiago pilgrimage to potential pilgrims and scholars.
For more information about Davidson's visit, contact Robert Felkel, WMU professor of foreign languages and literatures, at (616) 387-3018.
Media contact: Marie Lee, 616 387-8400, marie.lee@wmich.edu