What's new this month?

Author Coleen Christian Burke surveys weddings of presidential family members that reflected a mix of the private, the public, and the political—and examines how the high-profile events played out against the changing cultural and political mores of the day. She focuses on three presidential daughters—Lynda Byrd and Luci Baines Johnson and Tricia Nixon—and offers highlights of other notable White House weddings through history.

Pulitzer Prize–winning photojournalist Essdras M Suarez leads a visual tour of two of Cuba's most captivating cities: Havana and Trinidad. Suarez's street photos document Havana's rich history and resilient spirit, while his shots of Trinidad evoke its charm through cobblestone lanes and pastel adobes. In photographs that reveal the cultural tapestry of Havana and the timeless allure of Trinidad, Suarez captures the deep connection between their inhabitants and their environments.

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for three online workshops that spotlight a diverse range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. This writing session is inspired by 20th-century African American artist Romare Bearden’s Tomorrow I May Be Far Away.

Our modern world echoes and even replicates the creative vestiges of the past—and the key to understanding our surroundings is through an overview of ancient material culture. Focusing on the Mediterranean region, art historian Renee Gondek offers a survey of the earliest traces of artistic production from the Paleolithic period through the late Bronze Age. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

Lecturer Paul Glenshaw looks at great works of art in their historical context by delving into the time of the artist, exploring the present they inhabited, and what shaped their vision and creations. Together with Revolutionary War scholar Iris de Rode he examines The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull, covering the story of the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781 and the fascinating process of the creation of the epic work by Trumbull. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

What do a giant rocking chair, the world’s largest wind chime, and a field of spray-painted Cadillacs have in common? Nothing much, except that they're all examples of the thousands of unique, amusing, and sometimes-bizarre roadside attractions that travelers across America visit each year. Travel expert Bill Clevlen offers some of the stories behind many of these quirky tourist magnets and reveals why they’re worth a stop­—or at least a photo op.

Enjoy a three-course lunch specially designed for Smithsonian Associates at Alta Strada in Fairfax, Virginia’s Mosaic District. Executive chef Matt Smith introduces the menu of handmade pastas and other authentic classics and guides participants through a tortellini-folding lesson before the meal.

The term “Art Deco” did not exist until the 1960s. Prior to that, the geometric, bold, machine-focused style now collectively packaged within that genre was known by many names, representing a variety of regional versions of Modernism. Drawing from the recent exhibition “Art Deco: Commercializing the Avant-Garde,” Angelina Lippert, chief curator at Poster House in New York City, offers a lively chronicle of the rise and fall of what would come to be known as Art Deco. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

The allure of the sea has always captivated the hearts and minds of Americans, including some of our most notable leaders. Whether aboard naval vessels or  presidential yachts, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, George H.W. Bush, and other residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have used the ocean as a backdrop for reflection, decision-making, and diplomacy. Veteran White House correspondent and historian Ken Walsh examines their seagoing stories.

Travel to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond with historian Justin M. Jacobs for an awe-inspiring look at Japan’s exquisitely crafted samurai armor from one of the largest collections in the world. More than 140 works from the collection of Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller offer a glimpse of samurai history with a focus on the flourishing culture of the Edo period. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)