All upcoming programs

Lecturer and concert pianist Rachel Franklin guides a unique look at the monumental keyboard talents of four great composer-pianists and how their performing virtuosity influenced the piano works we enjoy today. In a 4-session series, she explores the creative minds—and hands—of a quartet of piano pioneers celebrated for their prowess as composers and musicians and concludes each session with a live performance of one of their works.

Karl Gercens, Longwood Gardens’ conservatory manager, explores the world of container garden design, showcasing its wide range of opportunities for decorative container use and displays. He surveys container materials; the wealth of plants that thrive in varied conditions; and offers tips on watering, fertilization, and pest and disease prevention. Photos of displays at Longwood Gardens provide inspiration for your own container gardening adventure.

Over the past five years, the world has struggled to grapple with the realities of living with a global pandemic and its aftermath. COVID-19 has an historical precedent in the Black Death, the hemispheric pandemic that ravaged the 14th-century world. Medievalist Paul B. Sturtevant explores the people and societies who faced it, drawing parallels between the individual and collective experiences of people seven centuries apart.

The works of metaphysical poet John Donne abound with highly unusual similes and metaphors, often from science, engineering, and cosmology. He wrote erotic (and often cynical) love poems as well as religious verse and prose, including what are regarded as the greatest sermons of his era. Humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson draws on and interprets Donne’s timeless poetry and prose as he discusses his life and achievements.

After months of contentious negotiations among American, British, and French delegates, the Treaty of Paris was signed in November 1783, formally ending the War for Independence and creating the United States of America. Historian Richard Bell examines the complex diplomatic evolution of one the most important founding documents in this country’s history—as well as the least well-known and the most misunderstood.

Over the past 2,000 years, Samarkand—located in what is now Uzbekistan—has absorbed the wealth and labors of Sogdian merchants, Manichean priests, Islamic astronomers, Mongol khans, Timurid emperors, Russian czars, and Soviet officials, all of whom attempted to use the city as a base from which to conquer Central Asia. Historian Justin M. Jacobs analyzes the cultural achievements of each of these historical groups.

Join naturalist Keith Tomlinson on a virtual Great Western adventure that extends from the Badlands of South Dakota to the mighty heights of Yellowstone National Park. He highlights geology, wildlife, biogeography, conservation initiatives, native peoples, and recreational opportunities along the way.

Looking for a choral program that celebrates memorable music across the decades? This is the one. Conductor Ernest Johnson leads the ensemble in arrangements of the hits you know and love such as favorites by ABBA, Dolly Parton, the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, and others. No auditions are required, and singers receive instruction in vocal techniques that include exercises in healthy breath management and improving your tone and range. Rehearsals culminate in a free performance for invited guests.

No art better exemplifies the Belle Époque than the lavish portraits of the rich, famous, and fashionable on both sides of the Atlantic created by John Singer Sargent. Art critic Judy Pomeranz presents an overview of Sargent’s range of work in the context of his time, as well as an examination of the stylistic and formal elements that set his paintings apart from those of his contemporaries and even successors. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

The psychology of nostalgia and similar forms of mental time travel is the focus of a lecture by Jeffrey Green, professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Green tackles questions such as what nostalgia is and whether it is a dysfunctional, maladaptive denial of the present or a healthy, adaptive emotion.