Dr. T. Davina McClain, director of the Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University and associate professor of classics, will give a lecture in conjunction with a performance by the Aquila Theatre Company in Lafayette Friday.

McClain's lecture is at 6:30 p.m. in Burke Hall at the Heymann Performing Arts Center. The Aquila Theatre Company’s performance of Macbeth follows the lecture.

The events are part of the National Endowments for the Arts’ Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives program, a major national initiative bringing humanities based public programming to 100 public libraries, arts centers, theaters and museums across America.

Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives aims to inspire people to come together to read, see and think about classical literature and how it continues to influence and invigorate American cultural life. In particular, McClain said, there is an emphasis on reaching those who have served in the military or whose family members have served in order to help them make a connection with the modern and ancient experiences associated with war.

McClain teaches Latin and Greek at all levels, offers lectures in the Scholars’ College’s Great Books curriculum and a variety of culture and history courses. Her publications include “A Study of the Evidence for Prostitution in the Maritime World: The Brothels at Delos” with N.K. Rauh in The Greek Prostitute in Context, 800 BCE-200 CE.; “Alphabet Algebra: How and When to teach Greek Letters,” in Classical Outlook; “Laughter in Livy,” in Ancient History Bulletin, and “The Hopi myth ‘Field Mouse Goes to War’ and the Greek Epic Hero,” in Amphora.

For more information on the program, go to ancientgreeksmodernlives.org.