While the historical relationship of India and Great Britain is well-known, events in other countries also affected how India developed into the country it is today. Author Fazle Chowdhury unravels the complicated history of India from its existence as a British colony to an independent Asian nation including the impact of seemingly unrelated factors on its history.
Aaron Burr was a hero of the Revolutionary War, a United States senator, and the third vice president, preceded only by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Yet his legacy is usually defined by his role in the presidential election of 1800, his potential attempt to create a breakaway nation for which he faced a trial for treason, and most notably his 1804 duel with Hamilton leading to Burr’s indictment in two states for murder. Historian Ralph Nurnberger discusses the many facets of this fascinating early American political leader and whether he’s best remembered as a patriot or a villain.
The Treaty of Versailles, designed to be the final chapter of World War I, was the handiwork of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Premier Georges Clemenceau, and American President Woodrow Wilson. Their idealistic goal of establishing "not Peace only, but Eternal Peace" was never realized. Historian Kevin Matthews explores how that unfulfilled legacy is still being played out in Asia and the Middle East and in Europe and the United States as well as how the men of Versailles created the world we live in.
Did Britain’s Lord Elgin rescue ancient Greek marble sculptures and architectural fragments—including a 24-foot marble frieze—from the Parthenon in the early 19th century or did he steal them? Greece's position is clear: The country wants them back from the British Museum. Join art historian Joseph Cassar in an exploration of these ancient sculptures made under the supervision of architect and sculptor Phidias and the controversies that have swirled around them since they left Greece. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Relations between the United States and China are at their lowest point since the 1970s. The superpowers are still highly integrated through trade and conflict remains unlikely, but what President Biden calls an “extreme competition” is well underway. Three of Washington’s leading analysts provide insights into whether and how U.S.-China relations can be managed peacefully in a panel moderated by Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States.
Long before the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming the right to same-sex marriage, Washington, D.C., was a place where LGBTQ+ history was made. Join A Tour of Her Own tour leaders to explore feminist history through a queer lens in the nation’s capital. As you walk through downtown neighborhoods, stop to hear stories of defiance, resistance, and triumph at sites that include Black Lives Matter Plaza, the White House, and Ford's Theatre.
Long-term drought, vast population growth, and wasteful agricultural practices rooted in a century-old legal compact have triggered a crisis along the Colorado River. In a two-part series, Bill Keene, a lecturer in history, urban studies, and architecture, reviews the backstories and contemporary repercussions of major water shortages in the American West and explores possible methods of providing water for some 44 million people in seven states and portions of Northern Mexico who depend on the Colorado River.
Meet your new favorite coworker: Henry David Thoreau. In their book Henry at Work, John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle rethink how we work today by exploring an overlooked aspect of the multi-faceted transcendentalist: Thoreau the worker. They reveal that his ideas have much to teach us in an age of remote work and automation in which many people are reconsidering their working lives.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, and although some causes are genetic, most heart disease is rooted in lifestyle. Physician John Whyte, chief medical officer of WebMD, separates heart-health fact from fiction and provides practical advice that can help reduce your risk of a heart attack.
America’s most famous avenue, connecting the White House and U.S. Capitol, hasn’t always been a grand thoroughfare. Pennsylvania Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood has been renovated, re-imagined, and revitalized over and over again. From Murder Bay, a center of crime, gambling, and prostitution to the stately boulevard of presidential inaugurations, Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours, unfolds the story of a metamorphosis along America’s Main Street.
Americans today expect their president to be not only chief executive, commander in chief, chief consoler, and chief crisis manager. They also expect our national leader to be our celebrity in chief. In an era in which media stardom is a key part of public life, a president needs to hold people's interest and entertain them, says Ken Walsh, a 30-year veteran of U.S. News & World Report’s White House beat. Join him as he surveys the presidents across the centuries who made the most effective use of their celebrity, those who didn’t—and why.
Washington, DC was built on American Indian land, but Indigenous peoples are often left out of the city’s narrative. Elizabeth Rule, an assistant professor at American University and Chickasaw scholar-activist, shines a light on the contributions of Indigenous tribal leaders and politicians, artists, and activists to the history of the District of Columbia.
