UPCOMING LECTURES
I love lecturing. Getting to talk about subjects that fascinate me, getting to share my passion for literature with excited audiences–it’s a marvelous thing.
I lecture regularly on literature, authors, myth, fairy tale, magical realism, the agency of myth and absence, and other splendid topics, mainly in venues around South Florida.
To have me speak to your group, contact me here. I can customize a lecture, seminar, or book club that will entertain, educate, and enlighten you!
Here’s what I’m talking about next:
It’s Hard to Defeat a Dragon! Life Coaching from Myths and Fairy Tales
“It’s hard to defeat a dragon, but one must try,” we’re told in the 1745 New Athens Encyclopedia. What is your 21st century dragon? How can you defeat it? The answer just might lie in our oldest stories: myths, fairy tales, and legends that contain timeless lessons for the ages.
Those ancient characters faced all sorts of difficulties, and their actions, for better or worse, still teach us things today: Orpheus warns us not to look back. Belle shows us that a Beast’s heart is more important than his appearance. Scheherazade reminds us that stories can save us.
These and other old tales hold surprising wisdom, advice—and a bit of humor that we can use to slay our modern-day dragons, large and small.
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Boca Raton, FL | Wednesday, November 12 | 3:00-4:30
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Recent Appearances
A Girl and Her Monster: The Extraordinary Life of Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was born to a feminist mother, raised by an intellectual father, was a teenage mother to poet Percy Bysshe Shelley’s children…and gained everlasting fame as the author of one of the world’s most famous novels, Frankenstein. This one-time lecture explores the life of the brilliant and unorthodox author.
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Jupiter, FL | Winter 2025
Scheherazade’s Secrets: The History, Mystery, and Influence of The Arabian Nights
The Arabian Nights is a timeless collection of stories narrated by beautiful Scheherazade over 1001 nights to capture the imagination of her husband, the powerful Sultan, and save herself from execution. The tales were collected from many sources over hundreds of years and, old as they are, their brave heroes and cunning villains continue to influence fiction and film in the modern world.
In this four-session seminar, we’ll spend the first three sessions exploring famous and lesser-known tales along with the fascinating times and rich cultures in which they evolved. In the final session, we’ll examine some of the many works of later fiction and film that the stories have inspired.
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute | Boca Raton, FL | Spring 2025
Past Lectures & Invited Talks
“The Wolf in the Woods: How Fairy Tales and Legends Live on in Modern Fiction and Film.” Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Boca Raton, FL. Four-lecture series.
“Deep Song and Dark Love: The Brief and Brilliant Life of Poet Federico Garcia Lorca.” Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Boca Raton, FL.
“The Myth of National Purity: Who Writes the Story of Who Belongs?” Valencia Lakes Lifelong Learning Series, Boynton Beach, FL.
“Holy Mary, Virgen Santissima: Writing Vividly and Cross-Culturally about the Blessed Mother.” St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL.
“Deathless Stories: How Ancient Myths Live on in Modern Literature and Films.” Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Boca Raton, FL. Four-lecture series.
“The Myth of National Purity: Who Writes the Story of Who Belongs?” Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Boca Raton, FL.
“Breadcrumbs of Imagination: Myths as Cultural Artifacts.” Blue Planet Global Education Summer Teacher Institute, Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, FL. Upcoming,
“Lorca: The Music in His Words.” Osher Lifelong Learning Institute/Edify at FAU, Boca Raton, FL.
“Lorca: The Brilliant, Tragic Poet of Spain.” Institute for Learning in Retirement, Boca Raton, FL.
“A Bridge of Birds: The Arts as Positive Resistance to Turmoil.” Blue Planet Writers’ Room Global Education Summer Institute, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL.
“Using International Story Exchanges to Think Critically about International Affairs.” Guest Speaker, Lynn University EdD Program in Educational Leadership, Boca Raton, FL.
“Sharing Stories: Connecting Students across Borders with Creative Story Exchanges.” Blue Planet Writers’ Room Summer Institute, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL.
“Bringing the World Into Your Classroom: Creating an International Collaboration Project for Your Students.” Kravis Center for the Performing Arts Professional Development Series, West Palm Beach, FL.
“Make a Book and Fill It Up: Combining Artist Books and Creative Writing.” Prime Time Palm Beach County Afterschool Symposium, West Palm Beach, FL.
“Do Do That Haiku That You Do So Well! Using Haiku and Haibun to Reinforce Content Knowledge and Comprehension.” Palm Beach County School District Professional Development Forum, Morikami Museum, Boca Raton, FL.
“Friends in Far-off Places: Creating International Projects in Your Classroom.” Palm Beach County Language and Culture Conference, Greenacres, FL.
“Meet Me In The Third Space: International Collaboration in the Classroom.” 3-Way Split International Forum, Southend-on-Sea, England.
“It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane—No, It’s Superheroes in Your Classroom!” Palm Beach County Arts Integration Conference, West Palm Beach, FL.
“Integrating Visual Art into the Academic Curriculum.” Florida Alliance for Arts Education Symposium, West Palm Beach, FL.
“Writing in the Everglades: Integrating Creative Writing and Visual Art into the Science Curriculum.” Palm Beach County School District Fine Arts Professional Development Forum, Loxahatchee, FL.
“Drawing Conclusions: Integrating Visual Art into the Writing Curriculum.” Florida Atlantic University Arts Integration Professional Development Forum, Boca Raton, FL.
“Tiger Paws: Creating a Multi-Disciplinary, Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural Webzine With Ethnically Diverse Students.” Palm Beach County Language and Culture Conference: A Global Vision, Greenacres, FL.
“The Planet in Your Classroom.” Florida Atlantic University Global Education Symposium, Boca Raton, FL.
Past Academic Conference Presentations
“A Myth of Wretchedness: Reinscribing Abjectified Individuals into Spain’s Endocolonial National Narrative in Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind/La Sombra del Viento.” MLA International Symposium, Universidade Católica Portuguese, Lisbon, Portugal.
“Veni Cà, Picciridda; Viens-ci, Petite Chou: In Which a Sicilian-American Marries a French-Canadian and Raises a Family in Three Languages (Sort Of).” Italy in Transit Symposium, Florida Atlantic University/Consolato Generale d’Italia Miami, Boca Raton, FL.
“Stories of Wretchedness: The Role of Fiction in Reinscribing Abject Individuals into Colonial, Postcolonial, and Endocolonial National Narratives.” When I Was Am Will Be: Interrupting Empire, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL.
“The Conspicuous Agency of the Absent Thing: An Exploration in Shards.” EGSS Conference, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL.
“What’s a Crankie?? Using International Story Exchanges to Build Global Competence and Connect Students across Borders.” 8th Annual Global Education Conference, Global Education Conference Network, Online.
“Lorca in New York: The Power of the Querencia to Bring Otherness into Focus.” The (Dis)Order of Things: Mechanisms of Power and Control, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL.
“Tell Me Your Story: Using Creative International Story Exchanges to Introduce Students to Global Literacy and Global Issues.” Humanities and Social Justice Graduate Symposium, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL.
“Up, Up, Down, Down: Is It Only The Young Who Can’t Sit Still for an Unfamiliar Cultural Experience?” Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Honolulu, HI.
Cora Bresciano 