Now that we've waved a long-awaited goodbye to 2020, what might your new year look like? We're ringing in this first Wednesday of 2021 with some suggestions to make it more productive, rewarding, and meaningful-as well as a chance to share with the Smithsonian your memories of life during the pandemic.
They're among the offerings designed to make sure you continue to enjoy what you,ve come to value from Smithsonian Associates: programs and experiences that are entertaining, informative, eclectic, and insightful.
Smart Advice for Fresh Starts
Carly Knowles and Michael Roizen (Cleveland Clinic Center For Medical Art and Photography)
A new year is a chance to begin again. We all make resolutions to eat better, exercise more, or learn a new skill. What's going to be different for you in 2021-other than everything? Several upcoming Smithsonian Associates Streaming programs offer expert advice for your own fresh starts.
On Tuesday, January 12, Carly Knowles, a registered dietitian nutritionist, and physician Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic, discuss a science-based approach to support optimal health and wellness through everyday meals based on sound nutrition.
In a Thursday, January 21 program, Karen Mangia, author of Success with Less and the new Working from Home: Making the New Normal Work for You, offers strategies to set you on a path to redefining success on your own terms in a new year in which old rules no longer apply.
Why do people living in some areas of the world called Blue Zones live longer than the average person? Find out on Thursday, February 25 from John Whyte, WebMD's chief medical officer, who shares practical tips to better align your lifestyle with those of Blue Zone inhabitants-without having to relocate.
Eat Well, Be Well: Whole Food as Everyday Medicine
How to Succeed in 2021
Advice from the Blue Zones on Living Longer
A Year Full of Art
Zoo veterinarians measure and care for the giant panda cub (National Zoological Park)
Is this a year in which you'd like to deepen your knowledge and appreciation of art? Becoming part of Smithsonian Associates' certificate program in World Art History is the perfect-and most enjoyable-way to move you toward that goal. Under the guidance of expert teachers, examine the major creators, movements, masterworks, and historical periods that shaped art across civilizations and centuries. In a flexible, personalized approach, you choose the courses that speak to your own interests and complete the program requirements at your own pace. There are many rich and varied opportunities designed for art lovers throughout the winter and early spring: Among the credit-carrying Smithsonian Associates Streaming offerings are programs on Degas, Matisse, Alphonse Mucha, and Chagall; the arts of Islam; the contemporary art market; art nouveau, surrealism, and art deco; the muses who inspired the impressionists; and a series of "Art-full Friday" excursions into the glories of Italian art and architecture led by an art historian live from Tuscany. Register for the program and immerse yourself in the world of art throughout 2021-and beyond.
Learn More About Our Certificate Program in World Art History
Zoom into Adventure!
Looking to add some extracurricular enjoyment to your child's non-classroom days? Smithsonian Virtual Winter Adventures offer live, expert-led interactive learning experiences on Zoom that make the Smithsonian the ideal destination for kindergarteners through 11th graders. For the youngest participants, Smithsonian Virtual Adventures and educators from the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center team up for weekday explorations of objects and artworks in the Smithsonian that spark art making and experimentation. Adventurers in grades 2 to 5 take a deep dive into the Smithsonian's collections as they engage with topics in the natural sciences, history, art, sports, and innovation. Virtual museum visits, hands-on projects, games, collaborative challenges, and conversations with experts are all part of the weekday adventure. And history comes alive on Saturdays in Soldiers and Dioramas sessions where pre-teens and teens find a new dimension-a miniature one-to learning about military strategies and conflicts in battles both real and fictional. Sessions are offered February 22 through March 24, and registration is now open.
Winter Virtual Adventures
Turn the Page to 2021
Illustration by Shaylyn Esposito
Did you eagerly turn to books for escape or information over the past months? Or did that well-intentioned pile on the bedside table remain mostly untouched? No matter your reading habits, there were plenty of notable titles published last year that deserve a look in 2021. The editors and writers of Smithsonian magazine have made it easier for anyone who's made a resolution to read more by curating a handy array of top-10 lists. The categories cover history, science, food, photography, children's books, and travel (remember that?). And scholars from across the Smithsonian have assembled a wide-ranging list that offers much-needed context for the issues at the forefront of the national conversation.
Smithsonian Magazine's Best Books of 2020
Share Your 2020 Story
Alvin Ailey surrounded by his company, 1978 (Photo: Jack Mitchell)
Historians will remember 2020 as a time of pandemic, economic crisis, police violence, and protest. But how does it feel to be part of history? The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is gathering an inclusive, wide-ranging, and personal record of that moment-a digital time capsule for future generations and a place for conversation right now. The Stories of 2020 project invites you to share personal memories that capture moments big and small during an upside-down year: How was your daily life changed by the pandemic? What does your "new normal" at work look like? What memory of quarantining with your family will most stay with you? How did the events of this year lead you to see your community differently? What object will always make you think of these times? What do you think will happen next? Add your story to those of many other Americans whose insights, struggles, lessons, and remembrances rooted in a year unlike any other are captured on the museum's website.
Read the NPR Interview
Share Your Story with NMAH
