All upcoming News, Politics, & Media programs

Historian and author Steven J. Ross argues that antisemitism and racism intensified rather than subsided after World War II, with violent attacks spreading across U.S. cities and extremist groups more than doubling between 1940 and 1946. He highlights how Arnold Forster, George Mintzer, and James Sheldon—along with many others—infiltrated and disrupted these networks at personal risk. The story of their hidden efforts, says Ross, offers a reconsideration of the “Good War” and exposes a largely forgotten fight against rising extremism.

Presidential pets have long doubled as furry diplomats, image-softeners, and windows into the private lives of America’s leaders. Historian Ken Walsh traces two centuries of animals in the White House—from Theodore Roosevelt’s menagerie of dogs, snakes, a badger, and a bear, to FDR fiercely defending his dog Fala, to the Kennedy kids doting on their pony Macaroni outside the Oval Office. These stories reveal how animals at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue shape power, personality, and the public’s view of the presidency.

The trajectory of Thomas Jefferson’s long political career landed him in a highly visible role in shaping the new American Republic. Jefferson quickly learned to create and manage a public image aimed at supporting his political goals. His image underscored where he stood on political issues, says historian Gaye Wilson. Wilson uses portraits, correspondence, period newspapers, and personal records to decipher Jefferson’s public image and what it reveals of his vision and ambitions for the nation.

Few documents have captured the soul of America like the Declaration of Independence. Within a few decades after the Founding Fathers put pen to parchment 250 years ago, the document was threatened with destruction and began to fade. Historian Michael Auslin brings to life the physical history of America’s founding document from its near-miraculous rescue during the War of 1812 to the work to preserve it from the toll of time.

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.

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.

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.

The rivalry between Protestant Elizabeth I of England and Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, was one of the most dramatic political and religious conflicts of the 16th century. Amy Leonard, a Georgetown University professor of history, examines the real relationship between these two powerful yet diametrically opposed rivals, who never met in person but were linked by family ties, gender, and religious and political intrigue.

Whales make some of the longest migrations on Earth, traveling thousands of miles round-trip annually. Marine biologist Amanda Hunter considers whale migration and ocean conservation and examines the growing threats whales face—from climate-driven shifts in food availability to ship traffic and ocean pollution. Hunter also highlights conservation solutions that are making a difference and uncovers the surprising ways whales help regulate ocean health and climate.