All upcoming Lectures

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)

Plato is a key figure from the beginnings of Western philosophy, yet the impact of his lived experience on his thought has rarely been explored. Classicist Carol Atack of Newnham College, University of Cambridge, explores how Plato’s life in Athens influenced his thought, how he developed the Socratic dialogue into a powerful philosophical tool, and how he used the institutions of Athenian society to create a compelling imaginative world.

Star Wars is a global phenomenon that people celebrate on May 4th every year. In conversation, curators from the National Air and Space Museum and National Museum of American History celebrate the Star Wars universe, its monumental legacy in pop culture, and its place in a familiar galaxy not so far, far away.

After World War II, the federal government sought to honor the sacrifice of American troops who died abroad by creating military cemeteries to commemorate the fallen at sites including the Normandy beachheads, the Ardennes, and the Italian peninsula. Distinguished by their striking rows of white crosses and Stars of David, they have become enduring symbols of the conflict. Historian Christopher Hamner surveys the design and layout of some of those cemeteries and examines how decisions made in the late 1940s and 1950s helped shape the way Americans remember World War II.

George Mason University will be the home of the recently approved NASA Landolt space mission that will put an artificial star into orbit around Earth. It will allow scientists to calibrate telescopes and more accurately measure the brightnesses of stars. The science associated with the mission and what astronomers hope to learn from it are explained by Peter Plavchan, the mission’s principal investigator and associate professor of physics and astronomy at George Mason University. Following the talk and a question-and-answer period, Rob Parks, director of the George Mason Observatory, brings the skies into your living room with remote control of the university observatory, weather permitting.

On May 7, 1945, after almost six years of brutal combat and death and destruction in the European Theater, German military leaders unconditionally surrendered to the Allies. On the 80th anniversary of this significant event, historian Mitchell Yockelson discusses how the death of President Roosevelt, the decision by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower not to enter Berlin before the Russians, the war’s final battles, and the suicide of Adolf Hitler led to Nazi Germany’s capitulation.