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Impossible Dreams, Improbable Deeds — Cortés: Conquistador and the Aztecs

Fifty and Better FABulous Summer Lecture Series

Impossible Dreams, Improbable Deeds — Cortés: Conquistador and the Aztecs

500 years ago, two worlds met: utterly alien, unknown, unsuspected to one another.  Three men decisively shaped that encounter and its legacy for succeeding generations. In this second of three lectures, Cortés and conquest of the Aztecs are explored.

Conquest was justified in the name of God, impelled in pursuit of glory yet revelled in greed for gold and slaves. Cortés fought Aztecs and Spanish alike, often simultaneously. Superior arms of a few hundred Spanish were critical, but not decisive, against armies of hundreds of thousands. 

Who was Cortés and how did he succeed against seemingly impossible odds? Famed and wealthy beyond measure, he died disappointed. 

Herbert Gooch is professor emeritus of political science at California Lutheran University. He formerly served as director of the Masters in Public Policy and Administration program and assistant provost for Graduate Studies at Cal Lutheran. A graduate of UC Berkeley in history, he holds an MBA in management and both master's and doctoral degrees in political science from UCLA. 

Registration is required. Each independent, 2-hour lecture is $10.

Fifty and Better was designed to offer university-level courses and lectures (no tests, no homework) taught by experts in the field, and to host social engagement activities for people age 50 and older. All two-hour lectures in the FABulous Summer Lecture Series are open to all ages.

 


Register

Register by July 14 by 3 p.m.

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Fifty and Better

Contact

Christina Tierney
christinahelm@callutheran.edu
805-493-3290
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