W65E By Hook or By Crook: True Stories of Disabled Pirates (Zoom; OLLI @ ASU)
Zoom | Available (Membership Required)
Everyone has heard about Captain Hook and Long John Silver, but what happened when a real pirate lost a limb at sea? Join Dr. Manushag Powell, Professor and Chair of the ASU English Department, and learn about maritime prosthetics for real Golden Age sailors, the relationship of able seamen towards the disabled, and whether Lord Nelson wore an eyepatch. Pirates may have been remorseless criminals, but they were also forward thinking in that they offered accidental death and dismemberment insurance to their brethren. Come for stories about life at sea and the perils of battle, scurvy, and alcoholism—and what they can teach us about today’s attitudes toward disability.
Manushag “Nush” Powell, a literary historian and public scholar most recently at Purdue University, is a professor and chair of the Department of English. Powell studies 18th-century British literature and culture, including publishing, women’s periodicals and piracy narratives. She is author or editor of four books and of the Wondrium “The Real History of Pirates” course. Her essay on pirates and hook prosthetics recently appeared in the Digital Defoe journal.
*This registration item is ZOOM ONLY; there is not an in-person section of this course. It is offered and run by The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Arizona State University.*