Professor Steven Patterson Delivers Humanities Lecture on Waterworld

Steven Patterson

Steven Patterson’s Mississippi Humanities Council lecture this fall will literally span the Seven Seas.

“Waterworld: a Maritime History of Civilization” is the topic of the Mississippi College professor’s talk on October 27. The program begins at 7 p.m. in the Jean Pittman Williams Recital Hall on the Clinton campus and the public is invited.

Highlights will include the Greeks and how their Navy enabled the country to develop architectural wonders like the Parthenon and Acropolis. It also paved the way for vast cultural achievements in Athens.

The Mississippi College educator will examine the Atlantic world of the Vikings, and spotlight the widespread slave trade. Then, it’s full speed ahead to the Pacific world of the 1800s. His evening’s journey on the world stage stretches from exotic images of Tahiti to the bold men risking their lives in the whaling industry.

If it’s salty pirates that capture your fancy, Patterson will take the plunge as his lecture comes to an end.

A history and political science professor, Patterson will analyze pirates as “early protesters against unfair labor practices, in addition to being our modern models of romance and counter-cultural figures.”

References to the mighty literary whale “Moby Dick” may also emerge during his talk.

The MC professor comes well-prepared for his topic. Patterson is teaching a course titled “Oceans in World History” this semester on the Clinton campus.

In addition, he’s a sailing enthusiast, primarily catamarans, and has introduced students to sailing over the years. Steven mainly sets sail at the Ross Barnett Reservoir and Ocean Springs.

The Mississippian dreams of someday chartering a sailboat, taking the vessel for a spin around the Caribbean.

The MC Humanities Professor of the Year, Patterson will visit with audience members at a post-lecture reception in the Aven Hall lobby. The event is free.