In May 1862, Union Gen. George B. McClellan and his army were on Richmond’s outskirts. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was assigned the daunting task of stopping a Union juggernaut capable of ending the Civil War. Thus, the stage was set for what became known as the Seven Days Battles. Led by Civil War tour guide Marc Thompson, this tour travels to five of these battlefields plus other significant related locations.
In the early 20th century, a group of Italian artists sought to embrace modernity in all its glorious messiness and contradictions. The result was Futurism, not a style but a way of looking at life. Its adherents called for abrupt change and the replacement of reason and order with vitality and force of will. Art historian Mary Ann Calo examines Futurism as both an idea and a development in the visual arts. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
For roughly a decade beginning in the late 1940s, NBC and CBS offered viewers live original dramas. These anthology programs, such as “Kraft Television Theatre” and “Ford Television Theatre,” launched the careers of directors like Arthur Penn and John Frankenheimer, actors like Paul Newman and James Dean, and playwrights like Paddy Chayefsky and Rod Serling. Media historian Brian Rose looks at the forces that made this golden age such an intriguing chapter in TV history.
Accompany former National Geographic executive vice president and chief science officer Terry Garcia and nature and cultural photographer Chris Rainier, a National Geographic Explorer, on a journey with some of the world’s most renowned explorers, scientists, astronauts, visionaries, thinkers, and authors as they discuss their insights about what motivates them, what is left to explore, and why we should care. Following the presentation, Garcia and Rainier are joined by deep-sea explorer and founder and president of the Ocean Discovery League Katy Croff Bell for a short conversation on the future of exploration.