Allan Hancock College Community Education will present a special lecture series, MCMXV: California, Here Comes the World: 1904–1915, to mark the centennial year 1915 that reshaped California.

The series includes lectures and films presented by Roger Hall, Ph.D., professor of history, and Chris Hite, M.F.A., professor of film and video. Presentations will be held Friday evenings, Oct. 2, 9, 16 and 23, at 6:30 p.m. in the Forum, room C-40, on the college’s Santa Maria campus.

The lecture series kicks off Oct. 2, with “A Star is Born: Hollywood Rising.” The discussion will cover the birth of American cinema and the rise of Hollywood as the center of the world’s film industry.

The presentation includes clips from early movies such as The Mark of Zorro and the controversial 1915 silent epic drama Birth of a Nation.

Series Schedule

Oct. 9: “Motion Pictures and the First Amendment,” presented by Professor Chris Hite
 
In 1915, the eyes of the nation were focused on the booming movie colony in Southern California. Cecil B. DeMille’s 1915 film The Cheat is a silent film exemplary of a time when artists and moral authority squared off over a battle for the moral and intellectual direction of the country.
 
Oct. 16: “An Earthquake and a Canal,” presented by Professor Dr. Roger Hall
 
What do these two have in common? Find out how the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and completion of the Panama Canal (1904–1914) became the basis for a spectacular celebration that showcased one of California’s great cities.

Oct. 23: “Two Expos, Two Cities,” presented by Professor Dr. Roger Hall

In 1915, California took the global stage as it hosted its first two world expos. We will go back in time to see and learn about the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, featuring its Tower of Jewels and Palace of Fine Arts; and the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego, which showcased the Cabrillo Bridge and Balboa Park.

Register online at www.hancockcollege.edu/communityeducation for course number (CRN) 22082. Click Apply for Community Ed Classes and proceed.

You may also receive registration assistance in person at Community Education (bldg. S). For more information, call Community Education at 805.922.6966 x3209.

— Gina Herlihy represents Allan Hancock College.