Leader: Julie Machen

Thursdays, 1:30 – 3:30 PM | Oct 5 – 19 on ZOOM

This three-week course focuses on one of the most controversial rulers in history, Mary, Queen of Scots. The theme of the first session will be this controversy and why it exists. We will look at her birth in Scotland and her early years in France. Session two will revolve around her return to Scotland and the extraordinary events which took place while she was there. In session three, we will focus on her years in England and her eventual execution. Finally, we will learn of a recent discovery of coded letters written by Mary about her time in England.

Julie Machen confesses to have been an Anglophile since her student days at Durham University in Northern England.  She and her British-born husband enjoy visiting England and Scotland when they can.  Before retiring, she taught AP European History at Greenwich High School in Connecticut but did not have the opportunity to study Mary, Queen of Scots.  This course has provided that chance.  She loves history and has led a number of courses for Adventures in Learning in New London as well as a course on Charles Dickens for LINEC.