"Intimate History, Radical Experiments" with Saidiya Hartman (Columbia University), February 11, 2021

A blend of reading, analysis and method, this lecture addresses the variety of forms that history might assume, especially when we take into account minor lives and subjugated knowledge. Related to Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals.

“'The Webs of Humankind': A Signature Idea in World History" with J. R. McNeill (Georgetown University), October 2, 2020

Learn about a concept that unlocks an intuitive, cohesive view of world history: webs of connection along which trade, religious beliefs, technologies, pathogens, and much else traveled. Related to The Webs of Humankind: A World History.

"Free Thinker: Sex, Suffrage, and the Extraordinary Life of Helen Hamilton Gardener" with Kimberly Hamlin (Miami University of Ohio), August 25, 2020

The story of Helen Hamilton Gardener, who died as the highest-ranking woman in federal government and a national symbol of female citizenship, casts suffrage history in a fresh light. Related to Free Thinker: Sex, Suffrage, and the Extraordinary Life of Helen Hamilton Gardener.

"Pandemics and Civilization" with Mark Honigsbaum (City University of London), May 27, 2020

From the 6th century Plague of Justinian that hastened the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the reforms to the English feudal system that followed the 14th century Black Death, pandemics have long been regarded as agents of historical change and key factors in the rise and fall of civilizations. Related to The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris.

"Life After the Black Death" with Carol Symes (University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign), May 5, 2020

A follow-up to the previous lecture, Dr. Symes discusses the far-ranging consequences of the Black Death, the medieval plague that struck during the 14th century. Related to Western Civilizations.

"The Black Death—What We Know Now" with Carol Symes (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), April 22, 2020

Cutting-edge research has transformed our understanding of the causes and extent of the Black Death, the medieval plague that struck during the 14th century and is estimated to have killed 40–60% of the populations of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Related to Related to Western Civilizations.

"The Second Founding" with Eric Foner (Columbia University), April 8, 2020

The Reconstruction amendments abolished slavery, guaranteed all persons due process and equal protection of the law, and equipped black men with the right to vote. In grafting the principle of equality onto the Constitution, these revolutionary changes marked the second founding of the United States. Related to The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution.

"Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement" with Kate Masur, April 28, 2021

W. W. Norton is offering a special virtual lecture with scholar and author Kate Masur, who will discuss how Black and white Americans mobilized to fight for racial equality in civil rights, from the era of the American Revolution through the Civil War. Related to Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction.

"Riot or Rebellion?: The Meaning of Violent Protest from the 1960s to George Floyd" with Elizabeth Hinton, May 17, 2021

Challenging the optimistic story of the post-Jim Crow United States, Hinton's discussion will present a new framework for understanding our nation's enduring racial strife.. Related to America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s.

"Seed Money: Monsanto’s Past and Our Food Future" with Bartow J. Elmore, October 13, 2021

Elmore's new book, Seed Money, is an authoritative history of Monsanto, a St. Louis chemical firm that became the world’s largest maker of genetically engineered seeds. When researchers found trace amounts of the firm’s blockbuster herbicide in breakfast cereal bowls, Monsanto faced public outcry. But what’s the real story behind Roundup? Related to Seed Money: Monsanto's Past and Our Food Future.

"Of Fear and Strangers" with George Makari, February 15, 2022

In this 30-minute lecture, Makari will discuss how xenophobia emerged alongside Western nationalism, colonialism, mass migration, and genocide. Stranger-hatred may indeed be ancient, but the moral and political notion of this dangerous bias emerged not long ago. Related to Of Fear and Strangers: A History of Xenophobia.