All upcoming Lectures

Over nearly 250 years, the National Mall has evolved into the symbolic heart of the nation’s capital, designed to express the ideals of the new republic through landscape, architecture, and monumentality. In the second program of a two-part series, Carolyn Muraskin, examines the post–World War II era, when the Mall became a space not only for remembrance but also for activism and expanding historical narratives as memorial design shifted away from heroic monumentality toward more personal forms of reflection—an evolving effort to represent an increasingly complex American story. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Discover how listening more closely to our bodies can shift our understanding of health, connection, and happiness. Giulia Enders, physician and star of Netflix’s Hack Your Health, explores the extraordinary intelligence within our bodies. Tapping thousands of years of biological ingenuity and the latest scientific insights, Enders examines what our immune system can teach us about security, how wound healing mirrors emotional recovery, and what our bodies show us about what we truly need to thrive.

Several landmark books of the 20th century reached readers only after fierce battles with censors. D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover was banned in the U.K. and U.S. for decades for its explicit content. James Joyce’s Ulysses had to be smuggled into the United States until a 1933 court ruling allowed publication. Allen Ginsberg’s Howl survived an obscenity trial before being cleared in 1957. Literary scholar Clay Jenkinson examines these clashes to illuminate the century’s cultural upheavals.

Art historian and longtime resident Jennie Hirsh leads an online journey through Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, major museums, and cultural landmarks. She spotlights key works at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation, along with hidden gems like the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Calder Gardens, and the Brandywine Workshop and Archives. The program also covers historic sites and the city’s dynamic food scene from acclaimed chefs to street eats.

When Octavian received the title Augustus from the Roman Senate in 27 B.C.E., he inaugurated a new political order known as the Principate. The shift marked the beginning of an era defined by stability, cultural renewal, and the calculated use of imagery to legitimize imperial rule. Art historian Renee Gondek discusses how art and architecture shaped and communicated the emerging identity of the Augustan era. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

In August 1943, at the height of World War II, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt traveled more than 25,000 miles throughout the Pacific Theater, visiting military bases, hospitals, and remote outposts where American troops were stationed. Author Shannon McKenna Schmidt chronicles the first lady’s extraordinary five-week journey as she flew in unheated transport planes and bombers, dined in mess halls, and even trekked through the jungle on a simulated training mission. Schmidt also traces Roosevelt’s transformation from a shy society matron into one of the most consequential first ladies in American history.

Hindus have long wished to see their deities in visible form, and artists have met this desire through sculptures and paintings. In modern India, this desire has also been met by colorful mass-produced “God-prints,” often called calendar prints or bazaar art. Richard Davis, professor emeritus of religion, outlines the history of this genre of commercial religious art, from its origins in colonial Kolkata and Maharashtra through its proliferation in independent India. (World Art History Certificate elective, ½ credit)

Marking the 150th anniversary of pivotal 20th-century Spanish composer Manuel de Falla’s birth, speaker and concert pianist Rachel Franklin combines an illustrated lecture with live piano demonstrations to examine how de Falla forged his unique, seductive voice with such enchanting stage and concert pieces as El amor brujo, La vida breve, and Noches en los jardines de España.

Mycenaean civilization has long resisted simple interpretation—neither purely the start of Greek culture nor an alien precursor. Classicist and archaeologist Dimitri Nakassis argues that archaeological and textual evidence reveals a diverse, evolving world spanning 1650–1100 B.C.E. across the Aegean and Ionian regions and reveals a complex Late Bronze Age society that defies neat categorization.

Before skyscrapers and industry reshaped the eastern United States, the region teemed with wildlife—elk, bison, wolves, and cougars. Environmental writer Andrew Moore traces this lost landscape and the rapid decline that followed as industrialization and unregulated hunting devastated native species. He follows conservationists and communities restoring these animals—from bison in Illinois to elk in Kentucky and red wolves in North Carolina—and explores what their return means for conservation and coexistence today.