The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) is a world leader in large-scale and long-term science that connects people and ecosystems. William “Monty” Graham, the new director of SERC, discusses the center’s work, beginning with a look at how Americans used the land and its resources 250 years ago. With a combination of knowledge from the past and innovative technology, Graham says, Smithsonian scientists can peer into the future for a glimpse at what it holds for the United States’ environment.

Both sides in the American Revolution knew the importance of firearms, artillery, and swords in making war. Kenneth Cohen, the National Museum of American History’s curator of early America, explores how these arms illuminate new dimensions of the American Revolution, telling a larger story about the lives of ordinary men, advances in technology, and the web of trade in which it all happened.

Rear Adm. Samuel Francis Du Pont, once considered among the Navy’s finest officers, suffered lasting damage to his reputation after the failed 1863 ironclad attack on Charleston. Though praised early in the Civil War for securing a major Union victory, he was later miscast as resistant to innovation. Historian Kevin J. Weddle argues that Du Pont supported technological progress but opposed using ironclads for this mission. Overruled by superiors, he carried out the attack, which ended his career. Weddle restores Du Pont’s overlooked contributions to naval modernization and strategy.

Few documents have captured the soul of America like the Declaration of Independence. Within a few decades after the Founding Fathers put pen to parchment 250 years ago, the document was threatened with destruction and began to fade. Historian Michael Auslin brings to life the physical history of America’s founding document from its near-miraculous rescue during the War of 1812 to the work to preserve it from the toll of time.

Echoing the deepest beats of the heart, drums are perhaps the oldest human instruments, and they figure into faith traditions across the United States. Featuring the music of the Rumi Daf Ensemble and Mark Rooney, as well as storytelling and performance from Dennis and Ralph Zotigh and the scholarship of Jalal Kimia and Deborah Wong, this program explores the power of percussion. Examining the use of the daf in the American Islamic diaspora, how taiko drumming connects Japanese Americans with Buddhist and Shinto traditions, and the power of Native American drum circles, this program illuminates how Americans today feel the beat of their faith in harmony.

The American War of Independence freed the 13 British colonies in North America from Crown rule and set the stage for the United States’ bold experiment in self-government. Drawing on primary sources, historian Christopher Hamner continues exploring the pivotal turning points and strategic choices that shaped the course and the conclusion of the war in a fall series. This session focuses on Valley Forge.

On July 23, 1999, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory into an orbit that takes it about a third of the way to the moon. Since then, Chandra—operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory—has sent back to Earth images of the spectacular remains of exploded stars, found black holes, and contributed to the study of dark matter and dark energy. A panel of experts from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Northrop Grumman takes you behind the scenes to see how one of the most powerful space telescopes ever built operates.

A historian from the Princess Grace Foundation recounts the story of the princess—who was American film star Grace Kelly before she married Prince Rainier III—her support for the performing arts, and her years as a Hollywood icon. Afterward, Princess Grace’s life and legacy are commemorated in a discussion.

Thoughts of Mount Desert Island off the coast of Downeast Maine often conjure up rugged granite cliffs rising above the Atlantic, fishing boats in rocky harbors, and the sweeping landscapes of Acadia National Park. But beyond these familiar images, it is a place where dramatic scenery and human history are deeply intertwined. Historian Ralph Nurnberger traces the island’s story from its Native inhabitants and early exploration by Samuel de Champlain through centuries of settlement and change.

As he examines Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull, Paul Glenshaw is joined by Revolutionary War scholar Iris de Rode, whose groundbreaking discoveries of the eyewitness accounts of one of the top French generals depicted from life in the painting bring a fresh perspective to the French­–American alliance and the French contribution to the American side of the war. Glenshaw and de Rode unfold the story of Yorktown and Trumbull, from the painting’s unveiling in the U.S. Capitol’s Rotunda in 1826 to how the creator’s unusual career as soldier, diplomat, and artist shaped this iconic work. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)