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At its peak, the Roman empire extended from Britain to the Sahara Desert, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Euphrates River. Yet in 476, the last western Roman emperor was deposed. In a 4-part series, historian David Gwynn analyzes the dramatic events which shaped the decline and fall of the Roman empire in the west, exploring the transformation from the ancient to the medieval world that laid the foundations for modern Europe. This session focuses on the impact of Goths, Huns, and Vandals.
What do the music of J.S. Bach, the fundamental forces of nature, Rubik’s Cube, and the selection of mates have in common? They are all characterized by certain symmetries— the concept that bridges science and art. Astrophysicist and author Mario Livio explains how symmetry underlies not only some of the most important phenomena in our lives and in the evolution of humans, but also the laws governing our universe.
For approximately five centuries during the second millennium B.C.E., the Egyptian city of Thebes served as the backdrop for the construction of a bewildering array of religious temples, memorial complexes, and royal tombs. Historian Justin M. Jacobs introduces the chief cultural, religious, and political themes of the monuments of ancient Thebes: the Karnak and Luxor temples of the East Bank, the memorial temples of the West Bank, and the necropolis in the Valley of the Kings.
For much of the 20th century, the deli was an iconic institution in both Jewish and American life, a kind of homeland for the soul—with pickles on the side. Today, after a long period of being considered hopelessly old-fashioned, the Jewish deli is experiencing a resurgence. Ted Merwin, author of Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History, discusses the past, present, and future of the deli in an age of ethnic nostalgia, sustainability, and artisanal food and drink.
The mostly forgotten conflict between the United States and Mexico in the 1840s transformed the nation. It triggered a major political crisis over the issue of slavery that pushed it closer to civil war. It also led to the Gold Rush of 1849, an event that had a major impact on America’s economy as well as its political culture. Historian Edward T. O’Donnell explores these consequences, as well as the details of the war itself.
The last few decades have seen an explosion of interest in female painters, sculptors, architects, textile artists, and performance artists. Art historian Nancy G. Heller examines the progress made by women artists in Europe and the U.S. since the end of the Second World War. She discusses the relationship of art made by late 20th- and 21st-century women to the work of their male counterparts, placing it within a broader socioeconomic, political, and aesthetic context—and considers the obstacles that remain for women artists. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)
The 2,650-acre campus of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, Maryland, encompasses a mix of forests, farmland, wetlands, and shoreline and is home to some of the world’s most enduring environmental research projects. Spend the day with SERC’s expert staff as you explore this environmental research hub and learn about its cutting-edge ecological studies.
This country on the eastern edge of the Black Sea is recognized as one of the birthplaces of wine. Georgia’s more than 500 native grapes provide a new range of flavors for wine lovers to discover. With the help of sommelier Erik Segelbaum, this tasting explores the full rainbow of Georgian wines from white to amber-orange to red…and holds a few surprises.
April and May are magical in the Enid A. Haupt Garden. Sketch there using watercolors to capture the changing light of the season.
From civil rights to feminism to gay liberation to the environmental movement to the silent majority, a period that began more than half a century ago has shaped and influenced our country ever since. Leonard Steinhorn, a professor in the School of Communication at American University, explores the 1960’s meaning and its legacy—one that may have created the dividing line in our current politics and society.
