Washington History Seminar Returns
The Washington History Seminar returns for the Fall 2010 semester. Jointly co-sponsored by the National History Center and the Wilson Center, with support from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, this is Washington’s only weekly history seminar open to the public. It aims to facilitate the understanding of contemporary affairs in light of historical knowledge of all times and places and from multiple perspectives. Wm. Roger Louis of the National History Center and Christian Ostermann, of the Wilson Center are the co-directors of the seminar.
Begun in Spring 2010, these seminar has brought together historians, policy makers, and the public for discussions on current events with an eye to their historical context. Previous presenters have included John Milton Cooper on Woodrow Wilson, Stan Katz on international human rights, and Carol Anderson on African Americans and independence in Africa and Asia. The past semester speakers is available here. Most seminar presentations and discussion are available to watch from the National History Center and the Wilson Center’s websites.
The current Fall 2010 seminar schedule is:
- • September 13: Donald A. Ritchie, Historian of the U.S. Senate: “Why a Congress and Not a Parliament?” (video)
- • September 20: Frédéric Bozo, Sorbonne & Wilson Center Fellow: “François Mitterand and the Dilemmas of the Cold War” (video)
- • September 27: Caroline Elkins, Harvard University: “Reflections on the Mau Mau and the End of Empire” (video)
- • October 11: Columbus Day–no seminar
- • October 25: Timothy H. Breen, Northwestern University: “Restoring the Ordinary People to the History of the American Revolution”
- • November 1: Erin Mahan, Office of the Secretary of Defense: “Weapons of Mass Destruction” (no video available)
- • November 8: Brian Harrison, University of Oxford: “How Special has the Anglo-American ‘Special Relationship’ since 1945 Really Been?” (video)
- • November 15: David Hollinger, University of California at Berkeley: “The Protestant Boomerang: What the Foreign Missionary Project Did to the United States in the 20th Century” (video)
- • November 22: Philip D. Zelikow, University of Virginia: “Some Problems in Explaining the History of U.S. Foreign Relations”
- • November 29: David Painter, Georgetown University: “Oil and World Power” (video)
- • December 6: John Pocock, Johns Hopkins University: “Edward Gibbon: Roman and British Empires–A Study in Incompatibilities” (video)
The seminar takes place on Monday at 4:00 pm at the Wilson Center. To receive individual announcements of the seminar or to attend, please contact the National History Center. Reservations are requested to attend the seminars are seating is limited.