Smithsonian Associates Online Programs

In September 1929, William Faulkner published The Sound and the Fury and the singer-songwriter Charley Patton released a record with the eerily parallel title “Screamin’ and Hollerin’ the Blues.” Tim A. Ryan, a professor and author of Yoknapatawpha Blues: Faulkner’s Fiction and Southern Roots Music, examines how working in different media Faulkner and Patton mobilized similar imagery, language, themes, and experimental forms to depict their shared Mississippi world.

Kevin J. Weddle, a distinguished fellow at the United States Army War College, examines the planning and execution of the desperate boatlift that evacuated British forces from France in May and June 1940, codenamed Operation Dynamo. He analyzes its overall strategic impact on the continuing war effort and presents the full panorama of Dunkirk as a mix of perseverance, hope, tragedy, chance, and deliverance.

Not everyone is aware that the health care system scoops up our most intimate medical secrets to sell commercially to companies that have nothing to do with our treatment or billing. Adam Tanner, author of Our Bodies, Our Data: How Companies Make Billions Selling Our Medical Records, examines how this lucrative international business extends to doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and insurers—and even labs that test blood and conduct other deeply revealing tests. He offers insights into how we can best balance the promise big data offers to advance medicine and improve lives while preserving the rights and interests of every patient.

The most notorious murder of the Middle Ages took place in Canterbury Cathedral, where Archbishop Thomas Becket was killed by four knights of King Henry II in December 1170. Historian Jennifer Paxton explores how the archbishop fell afoul of his king for both personal and political reasons; ignited a political dispute that convulsed church and state for almost a decade; and why Becket’s violent death turned him from a lightning rod for controversy into the most important saint in Europe.

On April 18, 1906, San Francisco was nearly destroyed by a massive earthquake and ensuing devastating fires, a catastrophe beyond the experience of the city’s residents. Historian John A. Martini brings stories of the disaster to life using seldom-seen photographs of the earthquake damage, the fires that followed, and the massive relief efforts led by the U.S. Army that aided the victims.

Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev: Russia has provided us with some of the most exciting and original music in the repertoire today. Vibrant colors, explosive energy, and passionate emotional drive characterize the works of these composers. As she explores their riches, concert pianist Rachel Franklin combines lecture and piano demonstrations to survey the growth of this tradition and the turbulent historical movements that acted both as backdrop and engine for it its expansion.

Amidst the darkness of the Warsaw Ghetto, Irena Stanislawa Sendler, a Polish social worker and nurse emerged as a beacon of hope. Operating through a secret network, Sendler rescued more than 2,000 Jewish children from its confines. Despite arrest, torture, and a looming death sentence, she remained steadfast, never revealing their whereabouts. Historian Ralph Nurnberger sheds light on the extraordinary bravery of Sendler, who risked everything to save the children of the ghetto.

Much folklore surrounds owls. To some, they symbolize wisdom. To others, they are harbingers of death. To the naturalist, they are one of the most finely honed predators the world has ever known. Why do owls fly silently? What exactly is an owl pellet? Can owls really turn their heads completely around? Find the answers to these intriguing questions as master falconer Robert Johnson delves into owls’ evolutionary and behavioral adaptations.

From the late 19th century to the present, American glass has undergone remarkable transformations. Art historian Jennie Hirsh explores this dynamic history, focusing on the influential contributions and enduring legacies of key figures such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Frank Lloyd Wright, Harvey Littleton (often regarded as the father of the Studio Glass Movement), Dominick Labino, and Dale Chihuly. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Art historian Sophia D’Addio of Columbia University follows up her 2023 exploration of Italian cathedrals and basilicas in several major cities by going off the beaten path. In a splendidly illustrated full-day seminar, she focuses on four sites of great importance located in the regions of Umbria, Emilia-Romagna, and Le Marche: the churches of Assisi, Orvieto, Parma, and Loreto, which represent some of Italy’s greatest repositories of sacred art. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1 credit)