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The Origins of Modern Russia: The Life and World of Ivan the Terrible
- Dates: Thursdays, April 10, 17, 24, & May 1
- Time: 10:30- Noon ET
- This set of 4 lectures will examine a series of constitutional crises in US history – critical points in time where our constitutional system was sorely texted. For all of them, a constitutional system survived – but in each case its fundamentals and trajectory were altered, sometimes subtly, other times profoundly. Some examples we will explore include the presidential elections of 1800, 1860, 1876, 1932 and 2020, as well as the Nullification Crisis of 1832 and the Watergate scandal. In these and in other cases, a constitutional form of government survived – but in each case crisis changed it and left critical issues unresolved, laying the seeds for later crises.
The Origins of Modern Russia: The Life and World of Ivan the Terrible
- Dates: Fridays, April 4, 11, 18 & 25
- Time: 10:30-Noon ET
- By 1500, Russia had endured over 200 years of invasion, occupation, civil war, and disunity. Ravaged by the Khanates of Central Asia, a series of dynamic Russian rulers emerged to reclaim and reunify the region. Led by Ivan III (the Great, 1440-1505) and his grandson, Ivan IV (the Terrible, 1530-1584), they transformed Russia into an aggressive, expansionist power striving for empire. This set of 4 lectures will explore all this transformation plus the cultural, social and economic shifts that accompanied it and heralded Russia’s entry into the great power politics of Europe.
Constantine the Great and the Christian Empire He Made
- Dates: Thursdays, April 3, 10, 17 & 24
- Time: 1:00 - 2:30 PM ET
- This set of four lectures will explore one of the great turning points in all of European history – when the Romans abandoned paganism and embraced Christianity in the early 300s AD. We will explore the complex background, character and motives of Emperor Constantine, his never quite complete conversion to Christianity and how later emperors transformed the Roman empire into one dominated by proto-Nicene Christianity. Rulers, in turn, increasingly became intolerant of not just pagan beliefs but of competing versions of Christianity such as Arianism, Donatism and Gnosticism.
Land, Natives and Slaves: Jamestown and the Origins of the Southern Economy
- Dates: Mondays, April 7, 14, 21 & 28
- Time: 10:30 - Noon ET
- This set of four lectures will examine the Jamestown colony in Virginia, its origins and impact on both Europeans and Native Americans between 1607 and 1650. We will study the catastrophic first years of settlement, fraught relations with Native peoples, the discovery of tobacco, and embrace of African American slavery both in Virginia and elsewhere – as a plantation economy quickly emerged by the middle of the 17th century.