April 2019
Cities of Cinema: Hollywood and Bollywood
Located on opposite sides of the globe, the cities of Los Angeles and Mumbai are homes to thriving international film industries known as Hollywood and Bollywood. This Dialogues seminar will compare and contrast these two industries and the cinematic traditions that have grown out of each. What has been the economic and cultural impact of these industries on their home countries, and how have their exported films influenced cultures all around the world? We’ll explore the types of films produced…
Find out more »May 2019
*Sold Out* The Battle of Normandy and the End of World War II: Reflections on the 75th Anniversary of D-Day
*Sold Out: Email human@unc.edu with your name, number of seats requested, and a phone number to be added to the wait list.* A Distinguished Scholar Seminar featuring Gerhard Weinberg The D-Day landings on the Normandy Beaches on June 6, 1944, marked a turning point in World War II, yet the meaning of this event was shaped by other strategic actions before and after the D-Day assault.This seminar, which comes on the eve of the D-Day anniversary of the Normandy campaign,…
Find out more »June 2019
What If? Learning from Reimagined Pasts in Science and Literature
All past roads lead to now, but what if we had taken another route? Would we end up in the same place? This seminar explores how thinking counterfactually can help explain why the present is the way it is. Participants will learn how biologists consider the possibility of divergent paths to today’s distinct species as they examine the processes behind evolution.We will also discuss how writers have explored “what if ” scenarios to better understand the social and cultural issues…
Find out more »Spies and Deception: The History of Espionage in the United States
Images of eavesdropping technicians in vans and trenchcoat-wearing operatives exchanging information in dimly lit alleyways dominate our public imagination of espionage, but what is the reality behind these fanciful cinematic notions? This Dialogues seminar will pair two experts on spywork to discuss the history of the U.S. intelligence regime in the modern era, starting with the origins of the CIA and including the development of other intelligence agencies and strategies for deceiving enemies.We’ll investigate how well espionage actually works, the…
Find out more »New Media, the Newspaper Crisis, and the Future of Democracy
Local newspapers have long been essential contributors to public debates, investigations of government institutions, economic information, community identities, and demo- cratic political life.The rise of new social media and the rapid decline of newspapers, however, is now transforming the ways in which news is gathered, communicated, and linked to civic life.This seminar will examine the current newspaper crisis and explore its implications for the future of democratic public life in the United States.Three experts with wide knowledge of the modern…
Find out more »Singapore and Chicago: Modern Global Cities in Social Transition
Singapore and Chicago became vibrant centers of global commerce in the late 19th century, and they remain major cities in contemporary economic and cultural life. They are also places in which the most notable patterns of modern social life continue to evolve, though in the different contexts of Southeast Asia and the American Midwest. Two experts in social and economic history (both long- time Chicago residents) will examine how these cities have evolved through changing economic contexts, urban redevelopment, modern…
Find out more »Authoritarian Populism and Endangered Democracies
The end of the Cold War led some analysts to believe that the demise of communism in Eastern Europe would ensure a steady expansion of democracy throughout the world. Democratic values and institutions are currently facing new challenges around the globe, however, and this seminar will examine some of the places in which anti-democratic trends are evoking concerns. Our interdisciplinary faculty will discuss recent events in Turkey, Brazil, Hungary, Poland, Britain, and Germany, providing perspectives to interpret the meaning of…
Find out more »July 2019
Pillars of Antiquity: Space and Time in Egypt, Greece, and Rome
People in the ancient world developed complex ideas about time and place to help them understand their place in the geographic and cosmological order.This seminar will provide new perspectives on how ancient cultures in Egypt, Greece, and Rome described the meaning of the cosmos, the importance of prophecies, and the significance of time in human lives. Join us for a discussion of how the ancient world created social practices and cultural legacies that endured for centuries in the Mediterranean world…
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