All upcoming Lectures

This country on the eastern edge of the Black Sea is recognized as one of the birthplaces of wine. Georgia’s more than 500 native grapes provide a new range of flavors for wine lovers to discover. With the help of sommelier Erik Segelbaum, this tasting explores the full rainbow of Georgian wines from white to amber-orange to red…and holds a few surprises.

From civil rights to feminism to gay liberation to the environmental movement to the silent majority, a period that began more than half a century ago has shaped and influenced our country ever since. Leonard Steinhorn, a professor in the School of Communication at American University, explores the 1960’s meaning and its legacy—one that may have created the dividing line in our current politics and society.

George Washington not only played a vital role in framing the Constitution as the president of the Philadelphia Convention, he also put the document into practice as America’s first leader. Historian Denver Brunsman explores the origins of executive power through the writings and actions of the United States’ first president.

Within a few years of the Norman Conquest of 1066, a beautiful and intricate tapestry appeared that documented in remarkable detail the events of the Battle of Hastings. Scholars still study the Bayeux Tapestry for its expansive cultural value in understanding the complexity of the Norman–Saxon transition that carried within it the seeds of the Hundred Years War three centuries later. Historian Cheryl White examines its lasting impact as a work of art and historical documentary and how the Bayeux Tapestry speaks to the identity of a people, a kingdom, and ultimately, the role of art in reinforcing the dominant view by which scholars interpret the past.

The career of 15th-century painter Giovanni Bellini extended across a period that saw the introduction of new artistic mediums and technologies, including that of oil painting, which allowed him to achieve extraordinary effects in the rendering of color and light. Art historian Sophia D’Addio charts the development of Bellini’s style through works ranging from small devotional panels to majestic multi-figure altarpieces to narrative works that showcase lush, verdant landscapes—all of which are characterized by an air of refinement and serenity. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

From early settlers arriving on the Mayflower to white settlers moving west in wagon trains in the 1800s to Black Americans making the great migration to the North in the 1930s, scholars argue that the culture of the United States has been shaped by people pushing into new territory in search of better opportunity. Historian Allen Pietrobon looks at the ways Americans traveled in the past, the rapid growth of interstates in the 1960s, the associated rise of fast food and roadside motels, and, most importantly, the birth of the notion that the open road is the epitome of American freedom.

In the fall of 1864, Gen. William T. Sherman and his army set off for the sea and the most important city at the time: Savannah. Plantation owners fled the approaching troops, but even before they did so, slaves self-emancipated to Union lines—with many as 20,000 enslaved people ultimately attaching themselves to Sherman’s army. Historian Bennett Parten, author of Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman's March and the Story of America's Largest Emancipation, reframes this seminal episode in Civil War history, discussing how Sherman’s still-controversial March to the Sea played a significant role in bringing the conflict to a close, due in no small part to the efforts of thousands of enslaved people who took part in it.

Historian Sophia Rosenfeld explores how, between the 17th century and the present, the practice of making choices from menus of options came to shape many aspects of our existence, from consumer culture to human rights. Rosenfeld discusses the lives of women—who often have the fewest choices and who have frequently been the drivers of this change—as she examines how reproductive rights became a symbolic flashpoint in the contemporary struggles over the association of liberty with choice. She draws on sources ranging from the latest findings in economics and psychology to novels and restaurant menus.

Once lionized as our most relatable and revolutionary founding father Thomas Paine died a pariah: too radical and uncompromising for the cautious new country he had helped call into being. Historian Richard Bell examines Paine’s meteoric rise to celebrity status during the American Revolution and his equally dramatic fall from grace in the decades afterward.

Long before Leonardo da Vinci created his iconic Last Supper in Milan, artists in his native Florence were already experimenting with different ways of painting the final meal of Christ with his disciples. Today, these remarkable depictions of the Last Supper are scattered in quiet locations across the city, offering a rare opportunity to experience these masterpieces away from the bustling crowds. Art historian Laura Morelli leads an exploration of the Florentine versions of the Last Supper, including the pioneering contribution of Plautilla Nelli, the only woman artist of the Florentine Renaissance known to have taken on this subject. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)