What's new this month?

Along with Jerusalem and Rome, Spain’s Camino de Santiago was one of the three great destinations of medieval Christendom. After centuries of decline and neglect, this ancient pilgrimage sprang to life again in the last quarter of the 20th century, drawing millions of visitors every year. George Greenia, professor emeritus of medieval studies at William & Mary, highlights the history of this road of faith and its continued popularity as a religious and secular quest for those seeking spiritual clarity.

Lift your voice in a choral program that celebrates memorable music across the United States. Conductor Melodia Mae Rinaldi leads the ensemble in arrangements of the hits you know and love. Songs may include favorites by Dolly Parton, Pete Seeger, Stevie Wonder, Irving Berlin, and others. No audition is required and rehearsals culminate in a free performance on June 15 for invited guests.

Florence’s Hospital of the Innocents, founded in 1445, was Europe’s first orphanage for abandoned children. Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, the institution known as the Innocenti became a haven for more than 400,000 children across five centuries. Joseph Luzzi, a professor of literature at Bard College, explores how the Innocenti revolutionized our understanding of childhood through its breakthroughs in childcare and childhood education.

After its disappointing air combat performance over Vietnam, the U.S. set out to improve its training of fighter pilots. Among the initiatives was a top-secret project launched in the late 1970s that pitted clandestinely obtained Soviet MiGs flown by a cadre of highly experienced pilots—known as Red Eagles—against fighter pilots of the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rob Zettel, a Red Eagles veteran, shares an insider’s view of the project.

In honor of America’s 250th, William McShea of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and SnapshotUSA are embarking on a massive project to resurvey the mammals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Trail—and they could use your help. McShea, a conservation biologist, explains the development of wildlife observation and how ordinary people can help advance scientific knowledge of mammals and the ecosystems they inhabit, with this project and beyond.

Willa Cather’s visits to Santa Fe in the 1920s with her partner, book editor Edith Lewis, inspired her to research and write the enduring novel she referred to as her best book. Author Garrett Peck examines how the Southwestern setting and spirit of Death Comes for the Archbishop is rooted in those travels.

Alexander “Sandy” Calder, heir to a sculpting legacy, revolutionized modern art by infusing sculpture with color, movement, and whimsy. Using steel, he created mobiles—kinetic works ranging from earrings for Peggy Guggenheim to monumental installations at the National Gallery. He also produced stabiles and hybrids, blending motion with stability. From his playful miniature "Calder's Circus" to large public works like "Stegosaurus," Calder made sculpture dynamic and accessible. Art historian Nancy G. Heller highlights his life and creations, including works in Philadelphia’s new Calder Gardens. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

From ancient gods and goddesses to timeless heroic narratives, classical myths have long shaped artistic expression—but how do these age-old stories resonate in modern and postmodern art? Art historian Jennie Hirsh explores the surprisingly vital and often overlooked role of classical mythology in contemporary art, showing how artists use these stories not just to illustrate, but to engage with questions of identity, power, gender, and society. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

In 350 C.E., Britannia thrived as a Roman province with a strong economy, flourishing cities, and imperial culture. Yet by 450, its urban centers lay in ruins, its Romanized economy collapsed, and political life fragmented under emerging English influence. How this once-prosperous province came to tumble out of the Roman Empire has long resisted easy answers. Historian Samuel Collins surveys what is known now and the innovative ways in which new light is being shed on old problems in the fall of Roman Britain.

Thomas Aquinas transformed the Western intellectual tradition through his vast philosophical and theological work, especially the Summa theologiae. His vision has shaped thinkers and religious believers from his own era to today. Aquinas scholar Scott MacDonald explores some of the bold and perennially relevant ideas fundamental to Aquinas’ distinctively philosophical theology.