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Category: "New Lectures for 2010"

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America's Nine First Ladies From New York State

Elizabeth Kahn Kaplan, St. James
One saved Lafayette’s wife from the guillotine. Another was the "Rose of Long Island." Learn about these and seven other fascinating women from New York State who became First Ladies.

Where Comedy Went to School

Joseph Dorinson, Brooklyn
Catskill comedy spelled relief, recovery, and reform. Comedians formed a line of defense against a hostile world, while providing merriment for the masses seeking relief from the melting pot.

Klezmer Music: From Old World to New World to Our World

Robert L. Cohen, Fresh Meadows
A musical journey through American and worldwide klezmer music - from the traditional style and repertoire to eclectic contemporary fusions with diverse American and world musical styles.

Brooklyn Bridge Forever: A Monument in Stone and Steel

John B. Manbeck, Brooklyn
The first bridge to connect the cities of Brooklyn and New York, the Brooklyn Bridge is a majestic work of art in stone and steel. It is also a practical conduit that proved crucial to New York City's growth and prosperity.

Rebels in Red Kerchiefs: East European Jewish Women and the Founding of the Jewish Bund

Harriet Davis-Kram, New York
A significant number of Jewish women were involved in Russian struggles for democracy during the end of the 19th century. Their active roles led to the emergence of Zionism as well as the Social Democratic Bund.

Political Unification Efforts in Latin America

Salvador Rivera, Cobleskill
Since 1825, every generation in Latin America has witnessed an effort to integrate the continent. Learn about the diplomats, idealists, technocrats, and politicians who have led these movements over the decades, and how they have both failed and succeeded.

Italian Americans and the Media: Cinema, Video, Television

Anthony Julian Tamburri, New York
How have popular media portrayed Italians? This lecture discusses the positive and negative images of Italian-American culture in cinema, television, and videos.

Earth in the Crucible: Sustainability as Value, Fact, and Experience

Matthew C. Ally, New York
These days, the word "sustainable" is tacked on to nearly everything: sustainable food, sustainable energy, sustainable growth, and more. But a concept that means everything to everyone is at risk of meaning nothing to anyone. So, what do we mean when we use the term "sustainability"?

Surrealism and the Search for the Marvelous through the Visual Arts

Dennis Raverty, New York
The Surrealists descended into a realm almost as dark as hell itself: the unconscious mind. This lecture shows how they tried to let in the light.

19th Century Circus: Sex, Violence and Politics

David Carlyon, Larchmont
When did circus change from raw adult fare to innocent family entertainment? A historian. and ex-Ringling Brothers clown investigates the reasons.

Imagining the "Highlands of the Hudson" in Nineteenth-Century America

Stephen P. Rice, Mahwah
See how artists and writers in the nineteenth century depicted one of the most scenic and celebrated stretches of the Hudson River, the "Highlands of the Hudson."

Aging in Shakespeare

Maurice Charney, New York
People aged earlier in Shakespeare's time than in ours. Cleopatra speaks of herself as "wrinkled deep in time," but she was only in her late thirties.

The Two Worlds of Major Mordecai Myers: A Jewish-American Hero

Neil Yetwin, Schenectady
Major Mordecai Myers was a Jewish merchant, soldier and politician who led parallel lives in New York’s Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

The History of UFO Sightings in America

John Horner, Woodstock
How our society has understood UFOs has changed significantly in the past century and generally reflected current social, technological and political factors of the time.

The Roswell UFO Incident and the Cold War

John Horner, Woodstock
Did a flying saucer crash in New Mexico in 1947? America was not only worried about men from Mars, but also the communist Soviet Union.

The Gettysburg Address: Politics Overlaps Performance

David Carlyon, Larchmont
An actor apparently influenced Lincoln’s words at Gettysburg. What does that say about the era’s performance, as well as its politics? And why did historians miss this for so long?

The Birth of History: Epic Poetry and Science Come Together in Ancient Greece

Colin M. Wells, Westport
We've always had a past, but that doesn't mean we've always had "history." Who were the first historians? What inspired them? How did they see themselves and their craft?

Inventing Fashion: Iroquois Beadwork and the "Art of Flowering"

Deborah Holler, East Syracuse
In the mid-19th century, Iroquois women found a means of economic recovery, by inventing the artistry of "Indian-ness" that influenced women’s fashions around the world.

Representing the American Landscape: The People’s Parks

Charles Mitchell, Elmira
From the Catskills, Niagara Falls, and Central Park to Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon: Learn how these places came to be, and what they say about our relationship to nature.

Nature: From Howling Wilderness to Vacation Destination

Charles Mitchell, Elmira
How did the Hudson River School painters and Dr. Seuss transform nature from a howling wilderness into a retreat beloved for its sublime beauty and recreation?

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