Finger Lakes Community College will host an online talk Oct. 13 on historian Matthew Restall's new biography of Christopher Columbus and the ways his image has changed over time.
Restall will speak from 7 to 8 p.m. in “The Voyage of Christopher Columbus: From Genoa to Washington, D.C.,” according to the college's event listing. The program is part of FLCC's History, Culture and Diversity Series.
Restall's 2025 book, “The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus,” examines Columbus's life and the later stories told about him. The talk will address how Columbus became an American hero in the 19th century and a figure of Italian American identity, as well as what Restall describes as manufactured mysteries surrounding his history.
Restall teaches at Penn State, where he is a professor of colonial Latin American history, anthropology and women's, gender and sexuality studies. His research includes the Spanish conquest era, Aztec and Maya history, colonial Mesoamerica and the African diaspora in the Americas.
FLCC history professor Robert Brown organized the series. The college has posted a Webex access link on its event page.
Viewers also can watch on Finger Lakes TV, including Spectrum cable Channel 1304, Roku and the network's web stream. FLCC said the talk will also appear on its YouTube channel.
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