History   

Explore Glenview, an 1877 home on the National Register of Historic Places, designed by esteemed architect Charles W. Clinton. On a guided tour, discover the six fully restored period rooms, showcasing fine woodwork, furnishings, artwork, and architectural features that make it one of the most significant early Gilded Age residences open to the public. Glenview appears in HBO’s Emmy Award-winning series The Gilded Age as the home of socialite Mrs. Astor.

Join us for an illustrated discussion of a bold new history of American photography as depicted in "The New Art: American Photography, 1839–1910" exhibit at The Met (April 11-July 20, 2025). The show will feature a range of photographic formats from daguerreotypes to stereographs and cyanotypes by major artists and obscure and unknowns alike, who created works in small towns highlighting the dramatic changes to photography as a medium throughout the years. We’ll discuss and explore the evolution of photography as a cultural, commercial, artistic, and psychological preoccupation through the works presented in this exhibit.

From the fifth-century sack of Rome to that telltale thick black eyeliner, the identity of the “Goth” has run like an undercurrent through history. But who were the members of this lost civilization? Join us as we tour through the texts and artifacts that provide clues to a population that vanished a thousand years ago. What secrets still beg to be uncovered about a group remembered as both destroyers and heroes?

Join us for a dynamic exploration of the history, drama, and deep tensions shaping the Catholic Church today as we approach the next conclave. From the revolutionary spirit of Vatican II to the groundbreaking leadership of Pope Francis, this course reveals the battles over tradition, modernization, and global diversity that will determine the Church’s future. Learn how a 2,000-year-old institution wrestles with profound questions about authority, inclusion, and reform—and discover why the next papal election will be one of the most consequential in modern history.

For the 13 agonizing days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the very existence of our nation and the world was in doubt.  In this lecture, Jess Velona uses rarely-heard tape recordings of secret White House meetings to show how John F. Kennedy rose to the moment and found a peaceful resolution to the crisis.  Crucially, JFK gave himself time to weigh his options, and then he resisted pressure from military advisers and Congressional leaders to launch military strikes that would likely have set off a nuclear war.  We'll also see how JFK's speech to the nation, and Adlai Stevenson's at the United Nations, turned world public opinion against the Soviets, strengthening America' negotiating position.  Finally, Jess will discuss recently-discovered evidence that despite the best efforts of JFK and Khrushchev, on two occasions ground-level military officials almost accidentally started a nuclear war anyway.   Up for discussion is what lessons this dramatic episode has for presidential leadership in our own time.  

In 1967, the Summer of Love was a cultural revolution that was the defining moment in the overall counterculture movement that lasted into the 1970s. It represented a large-scale public expression of alternative values and lifestyles that challenged mainstream society, particularly through its embrace of peace, love, and free expression, centered in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Discover the music, fashion, art, and key figures and movements that shaped the era while examining its darker side and enduring legacy.

In a largely illiterate world, seminal stories and messages had to be communicated through visuals. The resplendent stained glass of parish churches and soaring cathedrals served as vehicles for these narratives, from Biblical stories to saints’ lives to even the quotidian lives of guild members. This lecture will showcase the splendor and stories encased in the lead-framed stained glass windows all across medieval Europe—a treat for the spirit as well as the eye!

With spring as our backdrop, we will explore eight timeless myths of gods and mortals—tales of love, transformation, and the changing of seasons—brought to life through Western art. From Psyche and Cupid to Persephone’s return from the underworld, the fleeting beauty of Hyacinth, and the fateful race of Atalanta, these stories symbolize renewal and rebirth, and along with countless other Greek and Roman myths, they have inspired a multitude of works of art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art alone holds over 14,000 related works. This lecture features more than 100 artworks from private collections and over 90 museums, including the Louvre, the Prado, the Tate, and the Met. Join us for a journey through myth and masterpiece, where gods and mortals meet in moments of passion, metamorphosis, and the eternal cycle of nature.