The power of celebrity is the power of contradiction and paradox. Celebrities are extraordinary and typical, trendy and transcendent, vulnerable and omnipotent; they can seem simultaneously masculine and feminine, straight and gay, and the greatest stars appeal across ethnic, religious, linguistic and national boundaries.
The Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities will host Sharon Marcus, the Orlando Harriman Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, to campus March 5 for the lecture, “The Double Life of Celebrity.” Marcus will explore the dual nature of celebrity by focusing on 19th-century actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), known for much of her lifetime as the most famous woman in the world.
The free, public lecture will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Clark Hall 309. Registration is recommended at case.edu/humanities.