Robin Hood Conference

A four day conference on the outlaw hero of Sherwood Forest finished just over a week ago. The International Association for Robin Hood Studies Seventh Biennial Conference was held at the University of Rochester and drew an audience of 100 people.

"Every generation gets the Robin Hood they want and the Robin Hood they deserve," says Thomas Hahn, professor of English at the University of Rochester and the organizer of this year's theme: "Robin Hood: Media Creature." Various scholars examined the ways in which the outlaw hero has been reshaped over the past 700 years, and look at the evolution of Robin Hood through stage, song, literature, memorabilia, and more.

It was a series of workshops, lectures, films, and concerts which included an exhibit called The Americanization of Robin Hood, 1883-1923, An Impression of the Middle Ages, (an exhibit that draws from Eastman House negatives), an operetta, a concert of early lute music, and the East Coast premiere of the earliest-surviving film featuring Robin Hood .

Even today Hollywood can't leave the legend alone, as it prepares for the 2010 release of Robin Hood, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, not to mention the start of the third and final season of Robin Hood on BBC America.