Past Event Category: U.S./North American History
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May 14“Is Democratic Education Possible? Memoirs of a Chronic Optimist”
Jonathan Zimmerman (University of Pennsylvania)
Education Building 298
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Apr 23“Freedom Seekers: Declaring Independence from Slavery during the American Revolution”
Gloria McCahon Whiting (UW-Madison)
Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium (816 State St.)
4:00 – 5:00pm Poster Exhibition: The Art of Freedom 5:00 – 6:00pm Keynote Storytelling Lecture: “Freedom Seekers: Declaring Independence from Slavery during the American Revolution” To attend either session, please reserve your free ticket online at https://go.wisc.edu/j7q5g9. For more information about the Freedom Seekers project, visit www.freedom-seekers.org.
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Mar 192026 Doria Dee Johnson Lecture: “Fear and Fury: Bernie Goetz, White Rage, and the Long Reach of the Reagan 80s”
Heather Ann Thompson (University of Michigan)
Pyle Center, Vandeberg Auditorium, Room 121
Doria Dee Johnson Lecture in History & Social Justice Fear and Fury: Bernie Goetz, White Rage, and the Long Reach of the Reagan 80s In 1984, as the Reagan Revolution was taking its toll on cities across the country, a white loner named Bernie Goetz would gun down four Black teens on a NYC subway …
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Mar 18“A Blueprint for Worker Solidarity: Class Politics and Community”
Naomi Williams (Rutgers University), in conversation with Heather Ann Thompson (University of Michigan)
Memorial Union Room 126
Naomi R Williams is associate professor of labor studies at Rutgers University and a historian of working people in the United States. They received their PhD from the History Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014. Naomi’s research examines the ways working people impact local and national political economies, and the ways workers participate …
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Nov 18GETSEA Simulcast Film Screening of “Vietnamerica”
Nancy Bui (Executive Producer, Vietnamese Heritage Foundation)
1111 Mosse Humanities
Following the wars in Vietnam, over two million people fled to country with the collapse of the Republic of Vietnam. That exodus, referred to by many as “the boat people” resulted in nearly half dying while in flight, battling the elements, starvation, and pirates. Vietnamerica follows Master Nguyen Hoa as he returns to former refugee …
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Nov 13“Faith and Fear: America’s Relationship with War since 1945”
Gregory A. Daddis (Texas A&M University)
H.F. DeLuca Forum, Wisconsin Discovery Building
In a groundbreaking reassessment of the long Cold War era, historian Gregory A. Daddis argues that ever since the Second World War’s fateful conclusion, faith in and a fear of war became central to Americans’ thinking about the world around them. With war pervading nearly all aspects of American society, an interplay between blind faith …
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Nov 122025 Merle Curti Lectures with Amy Lonetree
Amy Lonetree (University of California, Santa Cruz)
Pyle Center (702 Langdon St), Room 121
“Native American Museum Practices and the Ongoing Project of Truth Telling and Reclamation”: Wednesday, November 12, 4:00 PM As a result of Indigenous activism and new museum theory and practice, the relationship between Native Americans and mainstream museums has changed significantly over the last several decades. These changes include the sharing of curatorial authority, collaborative …
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Apr 2CANCELLED: 2025 Doria Dee Johnson Lecture
Kelly Lytle Hernández
“The Whites-Only Immigration Regime” Doria Dee Johnson Lecture in History and Social Justice Kelly Lytle Hernández (UCLA) Event update: The 2025 Doria Dee Johnson Lecture in History and Social Justice scheduled for April 2 has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope that you can join us for next year’s lecture.
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Mar 19“Ryan White, HIV/AIDS, and the Politics of Innocence” – Paul Renfro
Curti Lounge, 5233 Mosse Humanities Building
“Ryan White, HIV/AIDS, and the Politics of Innocence” Paul Renfro (Florida State University) In the 1980s, as HIV/AIDS ravaged queer communities and communities of color in the United States and beyond, a straight white teenager named Ryan White emerged as the face of the epidemic. Diagnosed with hemophilia at birth, Ryan contracted HIV through …
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Feb 13Humanities NOW: Dissent on Campus
Elvehjem Building, Room L150, 800 University Ave
Police violence, the war in Gaza, and reproductive rights are among the events fueling campus protests and demonstrations in recent months (and years). But what exactly does dissent on campus look like today? In collaboration with the Human Rights Program, this Humanities NOW discussion will dive deep—beyond the events that fuel dissent—to explore the politics, …