1st Wednesdays

Humanities Lecture Series at the Rutland Free Library

October through May, 2008 - 2009
7:00 PM


October 1

Jefferson and Madison in Vermont
Historian and author Willard Sterne Randall tells of Jefferson and
Madison's spring 1791 visit to the state they had just ushered into the Union.
Sponsor: The Vermont Country Store

November 5

Stark Decency: German POWs in a New England Village
Dartmouth professor Allen Koop tells the story of New Hampshire's
only World War II prisoner-of-war camp. Koop describes how ordinary people
in Stark turned bitter division into camaraderie.

December 3

The Renaissance That Could Only Happen in Italy
Champlain College professor Nancy Nahra considers how the cultural
explosion of the Italian Renaissance changed both art and the world.

January 7

The Impact of the U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
Retired CIA Chief of Counterterrorism, Haviland Smith, discusses the impact of the U.S. Iraq operation on ethnic rivalries, oil supplies, terrorism, Israel and Iran, U.S. interests, and our future policy options.

February 4

Book Clubs, Tupperware, and Oprah
In the nineteenth century, reading novels was deemed a feminine pursuit.
Today, Oprah's persona perpetuates this notion. UVM professor Sarah
Turner considers gender and reading novels, and asks: Are book clubs a
gendered sphere?

March 4

Mr. and Mrs. Prince
Dartmouth professor Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina tells the story of
Lucy Terry and Abijah Prince, an accomplished African American couple
in pre-Civil War New England, whose lives embodies the paradoxes
of slavery in our region.

April 1

On Writing Mark Twain: A Life
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Ron Powers discusses the challenges
and opportunities he encountered while writing his acclaimed biography,
Mark Twain: A Life.

May 6

The Great Camps of the Adirondacks
Vermont State Curator David Schutz shares examples of the Adirondack
style of architecture, along with colorful stories of the Gilded Age
millionaires who summered in the Adirondacks.