The Renaissance of Roman Ruins and Their Lessons for Today

The Dante Alighieri Society of BC in Vancouver

and SFU’s Graduate Liberal Studies

invite you to a talk by Dr. Emily O’Brien

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Rome’s ancient ruins were

excavated, examined, and elevated as symbols of a past to

be both honoured and understood. Yet while some Roman

ruins were protected and preserved, others were torn

down, stripped of their marble, and reduced to rubble. The

Renaissance fascination with antiquity was fraught with

tensions, which surfaced most sharply when respect for the

past collided with contemporary needs. From President

Trump’s demolition of the White House’s East Wing to the

rise of Vancouver’s new towers, the same question persists:

how can we reconcile respect for history with the demands

of the modern world?

Thursday, 11 December 2025, 6.30 pm-8.00 pm (PST)

Room 1200 (Salon Event Rooms), SFU Segal Building

500 Granville Street (at Pender), Vancouver

Reception to follow

FREE EVENT

The event will be moderated by Dr. Arianna Dagnino

(University of British Columbia)

Dr. Emily O’Brien, Associate Professor in the History Department and in the

Global Humanities Department at Simon Fraser University, specializes in the

Italian Renaissance, focusing on 15th-century humanism, politics & the

papacy. Author of The Commentaries of Pope Pius II and the Crisis of the

Fifteenth Century Papac y (UTP), she considers Italy her intellectual home.

For more info: [email protected]

The Dante Alighieri Society of Vancouver – www.dantesocietybca.ca

Event organized under the patronage of the Consulate General of Italy in Vancouver

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Host or Publisher The Dante Alighieri Society of British Columbia