Lianne Harris Racioppo

Educator, Historian, Author

Engaging role-playing historical story teller driving infectious curiosity.

BIOGRAPHY

Former History Resource Specialist Consultant with the Toronto District School Board (Canada’s largest school board and 4th largest school board in North America), and curriculum advisor for Canada’s premier preparatory school, Upper Canada College.

Lianne skips all the ‘boring bits’ about history and heads right into all the relevant ‘juicy stuff’ people want to know–or wish they knew–when in school.

A keen understanding that education should be relatable, stimulating, and fun.

Lianne’s presentations find the ‘sweet spot’ between lecture, performance, education and entertainment.

Wears authentic historical-period clothing that match the topic.

SPEAKING EXPERIENCE:

Lianne has taught over 120,000 teachers and students throughout North America.

She currently delivers more than 400 lectures a year on a variety of historical topics for a multitude of private organizations in Canada and the US..

Appearing on TV and being interviewed on the radio many times, she is always happy to have a live audience.

PRESENTATIONS

1) The Story of London (England)

From its humble beginnings as a cluster of mud shacks called Londinium, this city and its people have survived it all–war, famine, disease–to build a powerful, glamorous metropolis that continues to intrigue us, shock us, surprise us, and reward us all along the way. Learn why historians believe that the most important city in the world is actually . . . London.

2) The Victorians (England)

A culture of contrasts, an era both restrictive yet liberating. Explore the distinctive mind-set of the Victorian Age: what men and women feared and what they embraced, the inventions, improvements, clothes, trends and the social, political and sexual movements they represented.

3) Royal Scandals that Changed History (England)

Tiptoe around the British courts and with chop-licking anticipation, uncover those true royal scandals that really did change history.

4) The Back Stories Behind English Mother Goose Rhymes (England)

Childhood Mother Goose rhymes were more often secret ways that adults could communicate their deepest feelings about politics, religion and moral behaviour–without incriminating themselves–during times of danger and upheaval.

5) Scotland: Everything You Wanted to Know in 45 minutes (Scotland)

From Picts to plaids, claymores to caber toss, MacBeth to marmalade! Journey to the land we now called Scotland–and the tenacious, clever, and far-reaching influence of its people, the Scots.

EUROPE:

6) The 1700s: Discoveries and Decadence (Europe)

From famous lover Casanova to prim scientist Isaac Newton, take a fanciful ride into this capricious century that pandered to unprecedented frivolity and decadence while yielding some of the greatest thoughts, minds, and inventions.

7) The Queen’s Closet: The Message Behind 1000 Years of European Clothing (Europe)

A fascinating exploration into the cultural, political, and religious influences on fashion and the status and power it so magnificently represented.

8) The Secret Life of Romans: Everyday in Ancient Rome (Italy)

Spend a day with a typical Roman family as they get ready for a special occasion!

9) Roman Traditions & Superstitions That We Still Practice Today (Italy)

From bridesmaids at weddings, to having middle names, to popular idioms and modern expressions, explore the pervasive influence of Rome on our lives today.

10) The Italian Renaissance (Italy)

Born in Florence, the Italian Renaissance will birth a new society of art, culture, philosophy, and money. The Western world will be transformed and nothing will ever be the same again.

11) In Search of The Real Mona Lisa (Italy)

The model for Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting wasn’t a figment of the artist’s imagination. It was a young woman named Lisa Gherardini from Florence. Let’s trace her steps and find out who she was, the street where she was born, the shops she visited, and how her life unfolded.

12) Myth and Media: Greek Mythology and Modern Consumerism (Greece)

What has Greek mythology to do with bathroom cleansers? TV remotes? Cars? Mints? Fire Hydrants? Cosmetics? The relevancy of 3000-year old classical mythology still impacts us on hundreds of items we shop for everyday.

13) The Turkish Harem (Turkey)

Draw back the veil to reveal the rules, obligations, political agendas, and mysteries of harem culture in Turkey and learn of real women–and the men–who were destined to live behind its uncompromising walls.

14) Ancient Egypt (Egypt)

The mysterious and luxuriant past of Egypt has never diminished. Learn more about their customs and social practices, fashion and grooming, art and education, and curious details about their preoccupation with the afterlife.

15) Steeped in History: The Story of Tea (England/Asia)

From the courts of kings to the taverns of rebels, from an ancient secret to one of the world’s most demanded commodities…soak up the history of tea.

16) The Silk Road (Asia)

Come take a 12,000 km trek in time and follow the Silk Road, the route connecting East to West. Along this fabled route we trudge our camel caravan from market to market, and port to port, acquainting ourselves with unfamiliar peoples and customs, strange foods, luxurious goods, and unforgettable stories.

17) From Paris, With Love! (France)

For over 2000 years, the Parisians have been recognized for their artistic and literary achievement, innovation, and unprecedented influence. Experiencing the cycle of rags to riches many times, its people have always made room for a healthy dose of love, lust, laughter, charm, hope, and delight that has made living in Paris ‘la joie de vivre’.

18) The Vikings (Scandinavia/Baltic)

Marauders or merchants, plunderers or peaceable? The scourge of God or the best thing to happen in Northern Europe? Let’s separate fact from fiction and weigh-in on whether Viking stereotypes are true and how, in any case, Scandinavian exploration, industry, artistic achievements, practices and behaviours are still being felt today.

19) The Luck o’ the Irish (Ireland)

Mysterious, superstitious, religious, tenacious, ingenious, courageous and indomitable. Before pubs and St. Patrick, beyond leprechauns and shamrocks, take a journey into the history of the people and land of Ireland.

CARIBBEAN:

20) Treasures of the Deep (Caribbean)

Mystery! Rumours! Wealth beyond imagination! Set sail as we navigate ‘five fathoms deep’ to explore some of the most fabled treasures–and secrets–the ocean floor has ever yielded.

AMERICAS:

21) Meso-America: The New World Before Columbus (Mexico, Central America, South America)

Who were the Aztecs, Maya and Incas and how were they different from each other? Were they blood-thirsty? Intelligent? Cultured? Explore life in the Americas before 1492 and see whether our beliefs and ideas about these cultures are fact or fiction–and how the world, on either side of the Atlantic, would never be the same again.

22) Vision Quest: A View of Woodland Indigenous Life (Canada/New England)

Explore the fascinating life of the First Nations peoples of the Eastern seaboard. How did they approach birth, marriage, courtship, family life, and aging? Follow the life-cycle of an Indigenous person pre-European contact and better understand their ways and key contributions to North American life.

23) Rogues & Rebels: How Canada Began (Canada)

Canadians weren’t always polite and apologetic, nor is their history lacklustre compared to their American neighbours. Learn about the courageous, audacious, and clever personalities — and bold events — that put Canada on the map!

24) The Thanksgiving Story (New England)

Explore the origins of one of North America’s most beloved holidays as we familiarize ourselves with not only the Mayflower story and early colonial attempts to settle the New World, but a look at the primitive roots of harvest festivals and all that we have to be thankful for.

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