All upcoming Lectures

What can a painted vase tell us about the lives and beliefs of the ancient Greeks? A lot, actually. The human activities and mythological subjects depicted on vessels from the 7th through the 5th century B.C.E. provide invaluable insights into this civilization. Art historian Renee Gondek explores the stories illustrated and highlights the artistry of the best-known painters. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio is best known for his majestic villas scattered throughout the Veneto countryside. Ranging from working farms to country residences, these structures reflect contemporary views that spending time away from the chaos of the city was a path to moral betterment. Art historian Sophia D’Addio explores the architecture of a series of stunning villas, linking them to Palladio’s influential writings on design in his The Four Books of Architecture. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has begun a 20-year mission of observation that promises to revolutionize our understanding of the universe. Kelly Beatty, senior editor of Sky & Telescope magazine, reveals how astronomers are using the telescope’s state-of-the-art instruments and enormous optical system to detect extremely faint infrared objects from both the very near and very distant universe—information that can help in identifying the earliest stars and galaxies to form after the Big Bang and in exploring the planetary systems of other stars.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa has sparked countless theories—from the well-established to the far-fetched. But a set of 16th- and 17th-century copies, scattered in collections from Russia to Spain, complicate the mystery of the world’s most famous painting. Art historian Laura Morelli opens the strange and wondrous world of these "other Mona Lisas," which have made collectors, museum professionals, and art historians question everything they think they know about the world's most famous portrait. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement ended a 30-year period of violence in the north of Ireland known as “the Troubles,” but the difficult legacy of that era still overshadows politics in Ireland north and south to this day. Historian Jennifer Paxton explores the origins of the Troubles as well as the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland and the prospects for Irish unity now that the United Kingdom’s territory has its first-ever nationalist first minister.

Cardamom is one of the most aromatic and complex of spices, prized as much for its romantic and storied history as it is for its culinary usage (the sultry aroma of burning cardamom lured Mark Antony to Cleopatra’s palace). Spice expert Eleanor Ford draws on her new cookbook, A Whisper of Cardamom, to explore its facts, botany, myths, and properties and offers kitchen tips to get the best out of the captivating spice, elevating dishes from broths to curries, spiced teas to scented cakes.

While all sorts of climate-related issues are in the news, we have solved planet-threatening problems before, atmospheric scientist Susan Solomon argues, and we can do it again. The path to success begins when an environmental problem becomes both personal and perceptible to the general public, Solomon says. She tells stories of environmental victories against ozone depletion, smog, pesticides, and lead whose heroes include angry mothers, gang members turned social activists, and iconoclastic scientists.

It’s all about who you know when you’re an animal. For vampire bats sharing blood meals to survive, macaque monkeys forming grooming pacts after a deadly hurricane, and great tit birds learning the best way to steal milk, it pays to be well-connected. In this tour of the animal kingdom, evolutionary biologist Lee Alan Dugatkin describes social networks that existed long before the dawn of human social media.

When he became president in 1797, John Adams was confronted with intense partisan divides, debates over citizenship, fears of political violence, potential for foreign conflict, and a nation unsure that the presidency could even work without George Washington at the helm. Historian Lindsay M. Chervinsky surveys the second U.S. presidency, a period critical to the survival of the republic, and examines how Adams met these unique challenges and how he shaped the office for his successors.

For more than 115 years, Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, has been recognized as one of the world’s most important and beautiful collections of gardens and glasshouses. As he explores its indoor spaces, Karl Gercens, Longwood’s conservatory manager, covers historic features including the Orangery and East Conservatory and previews a history-making addition: the West Conservatory, which brings together 19th-century glasshouse traditions and the newest sustainable technologies.