Lectures on History delivered right to your home!
CLICK IMAGE TO REGISTER
From Open Door to ICE: Immigration Policy, Economics and Power
- Dates: Thursdays, September 4, 11, 18 & 25
- Time: 10:30 - Noon ET
- In 1965, Pres. Lyndon Johnson passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, the foundation of modern America’s way of dealing with legal and illegal immigrants. It was touted as “Opening the door to the world.” Since then, illegal immigration has become a deeply controversial subject, prompting the breakup of families, the militarization of borders, the creation of detention centers, the targeting of immigrant neighborhoods and workplaces, and the vast expansion of agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This set of lectures will explore how and why this has happened since 1965 -- with special focus on legal, economic and demographic trends and impacts here in the 21st century.
Learning Leadership: George Washington: Planter, General, President
- Learning Leadership: George Washington: Planter, General, President
- Dates: Mondays, September 8, 15, 22 & 29
- Time: 10:30 - Noon ET
- This set of 4 lectures examines the life and career of the quintessential founding father George Washington from his youth through his complex multi-dimensional life. We will explore his thwarted ambitions to become a British officer, a land speculator, and a planter. We will explore his time as commander of America’s revolutionary forces, his role in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and his extraordinary two terms as president, a time wherein he literally “invented” the presidency.
New Kingdom: The Apex of Ancient Egypt
- Dates: Thursdays, September 4, 11, 18 & 25
- Time: 1:00 - 2:30 PM ET
- This set of four lectures will explore one of the most dynamic and compelling eras in ancient history, the New Kingdom era of ancient Egypt (c. 1550–1070 BC). For 500 years, the pharaohs militarily, culturally and economically dominated the eastern Mediterranean. Led by extraordinary and well-known figures such as the female pharaoh Hatshepsut, King Akhenaten, his wife, Nefertiti, Rameses II (the Great), the boy-king, Tutankhamun and his successor Ay, the era is populated by the most iconic figures and places of ancient history. We will also explore the expansion of Egyptian power as they came into contact with new civilizations such as the Hyksos, the Hittites and the Nubians, among others.
Peter the Great and the Origins of the Romanov dynasty
- Dates: Fridays, September 5, 12, 19 & 26
- Time: 10:30 - Noon ET
- This set of 4 lectures examines the central figure in early modern Russia, Czar Peter the Great (1672-1725). Coming out of a period of political chaos and dynastic infighting, Peter devoted his intense energy and autocratic power to move Russia from an isolated largely medieval state to one oriented towards Europe and a power to be reckoned with in the 18th century. Among many topics, we will examine the founding of Romanov power beginning in 1613, the bitter and bloody dynastic feuds that threatened Peter’s early life and rise to power, his "Grand Embassy" to western Europe, his construction of Saint Petersburg, his war with the Turks and ultimately the Great Northern War with Sweden in the early 18th century.