What's new this month?

Henry David Thoreau is widely known for Walden and “Civil Disobedience,” but he was also a pioneering environmentalist, an influence on nonviolence movements, and a geologist, botanist, inventor, poet, and early Darwinian thinker. Scholar Randall Fuller reexamines Thoreau as a figure shaped by post-Revolutionary America—an engaged artist-scientist who in many ways embodied the promise of a “new” citizen in the early Republic.

An ambitious expedition left central Mexico in 1540 as Francisco Coronado led nearly 2,000 Spaniards north in search of mythical golden cities. Instead of wealth, they confronted the vast, unmapped American West and formidable Indigenous nations who controlled it. Over two years, the expedition crossed more than 2,500 miles. Hard terrain, starvation, internal collapse, and Indigenous resistance devastated the force: nearly 90 percent never returned. Peter Stark, author of The Lost Cities of El Norte, examines how Indigenous power and the landscape combined to halt European domination of the Southwest and Plains for the next three centuries.

Tens of billions of birds share the planet with us, an astonishing array of species that are present nearly everywhere humans call home. They are delicate creatures with hollow bones and thin skin protected by feathers, but birds actually evolved from dinosaurs over 150 million years ago. Evolutionary biologist Steve Brusatte investigates why birds were the only dinosaurs to survive the cataclysmic asteroid impact 66 million years ago and chronicles how these survivors proliferated to produce the many species seen today.

At the start of 1776, few Americans sought independence, grounding their protests instead in the rights of British subjects. By year’s end, independence had become unavoidable. Historian Edward J. Larson chronicles this pivotal year in American history, from the inspiring appeals of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in January; through midsummer, when the Second Continental Congress grounded independence in the “self-evident” truths of human equality and individual rights; to Paine’s urgent pleas of December, when “the times that try men’s souls” required Americans not to “shrink from the service of their country.”

Over nearly 250 years, the National Mall has evolved as the center stage of the nation’s capital. The Founding Fathers saw the District of Columbia as a shining beacon of democracy for a newly independent nation, reflected in the L’Enfant Plan’s vision of the National Mall as its ceremonial core. In the first program of a 2-part series, Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours, traces the Mall’s transition from pasture lands to military training grounds and from mud flats to grand monuments, sharing the complex and lesser-known history of some of the most enduring national landmarks. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest and most technologically dynamic campaign of the Second World War, a vast contest in which engineering ingenuity, intelligence breakthroughs, and industrial capacity proved as decisive as bravery at sea. U.S. Naval Academy historian Marcus Jones offers a sweeping narrative of the struggle from 1939 to 1945, presenting the Atlantic war as a complex, interlocking system, one in which science, strategy, and endurance combined to determine the fate of nations: a story of innovation under pressure and survival against the odds.

Long before modern art found its home in museums, it thrived in salons, collections, and networks cultivated by women. From gatherings in Europe to avant-garde circles in early 20th-century New York, these women nurtured artists, championed emerging talent, and shaped the tastes that defined modern culture. In a 3-session series, art historian Jennie Hirsh highlights the salonnières and patrons who forged spaces where innovation flourished. This session focuses on Gertrude Stein, Helene Kröller-Müller, and Margherita Sarfatti. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

The French Resistance was an extraordinary network of ordinary people—students, clergy, aristocrats, communists, Protestants, Muslims, and many Jews—who risked everything to defy Nazi occupation and the Vichy regime during World War II. From espionage and sabotage to rescue missions and intelligence gathering, members of the Resistance played a vital role in aiding the Allies and protecting vulnerable citizens. Ralph Nurnberger examines how this extraordinary coalition put their lives on the line to defy Nazi occupation and safeguard fellow citizens.

After Napoleon toppled the Venetian Republic in 1797, Venice passed from French to Austrian control before joining Italy in 1866. The city was reshaped for industry—churches razed, canals filled, streets widened—sparking fierce debate. Critics condemned the loss of artistic heritage, fueling a struggle between preservation and modernization that eventually redirected Venice toward tourism. Historian Dennis Romano explores how the 19th century became one of the most consequential periods in Venice’s 1,600-year history, reshaping both its physical landscape and cultural identity.

Frank Gehry rejected strict Modernism early on, embracing experimentation, unconventional forms, and raw materials to redefine architectural expression. His Santa Monica house signaled this shift, and digital tools later enabled the sculptural complexity seen in the Guggenheim Bilbao, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Fondation Louis Vuitton. Though often associated with Postmodernism and Deconstructivism, he resisted labels, prioritizing intuitive exploration. Celebrated and criticized, Gehry transformed contemporary architecture and expanded the possibilities of what buildings can communicate. Bill Keene, a lecturer in history, urban studies, and architecture, examines Gehry’s life and work. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)