Recent Lectures

2024

  • Carla A. Hills, Government, Trade, and Policy: How Can We Learn from the Past
  • Esther Safran Foer, The Capital Jewish Museum
  • Murry Sidlin, The Defiant Requiem
  • John Leshy, The Past and Future of America’s Federal Lands
  • Dana Tai Soon Burgess, A Conversation with Dana Tai Soon Burgess
  • Samantha Bello, Choosing Plays for a Theater Season
  • Marvin Jones, Haiti and the Civil War
  • Craig Gilbert, A Look at America's Ultimate Swing-state: The Presidential Battleground of Wisconsin
  • Dee Davis, Rural America and the 2024 Election
  • Keith Wiley, Demographic Change, Economic Distress, and Uncertain Times: A Closer Look at the Data
  • Maureen Corrigan, Banned in the USA
  • Charles Kamasaki, Immigration Reform, Might Past Be Prologue?
  • Jeffrey Blount, Mr. Jimmy From Around the Way and the Impact of Literary Activism
  • Hayley Finn, The New Jewish Play
  • Steve Livengood, The Temple of Democracy: American History Gets Acted Out in the US Capitol
  • Michael Conley, Honoring Service and Sacrifice: The Story of the American Battle Monuments Commission
  • Judge David Tatel, Vision
  • Bryan Cheeseboro, The Civil War Defenses of Washington: 1861
  • Mitzi Perdue, A View of Ukraine You Haven't Heard
  • Brian Hughes, Building Resilience and Preventing Radicalization—Prevention Practices at the Cutting Edge
  • Jeff Faux, The Case for a Progressive American Isolationism
  • Marian Flaxman, Food as Medicine—What, Why and How?
  • Jill Lordan, Using Sweat Equity to Make Housing More Affordable
  • Stuart Eizenstat, The Art of Diplomacy: How American Negotiators Reached Historic Agreements That Changed the World 
 
2023

  • Chuck Rosenberg, Thinking About Law, Prosecutors, and Politics
  • Abby Weiss, Facing Unpleasant Truths in History, and How to Teach It
  • Thomas Petri, Changes in Congressional Life and Politics 
  • Sarah Cameron, The Aral Sea: Environment, Society, and State Power in Central Asia
  • John Lawrence, Arc of Power: Inside Nancy Pelosi's Speakership, 2005-2010
  • Ralph Begleiter, Adventures of a Global Journalist
  • Natwar Gandi, How an Immigrant Helped Save the Nation's Capital from Financial Ruin
  • Richard Walker, The Living New Deal 
  • Mark Schneider, The Threat of Growing Authoritarianism South of our Border
  • Judy Feder, Do You Have to Worry About Medicare?
  • Molly Smith, Life in the Eye of the Hurricane: Reflections on 25 Years at the Mighty Arena Stage
  • Stephen Hadley, A Dialogue on U.S. Foreign Policy from Bush to Biden
  • Carolyn Clancy, The Impact of the Pandemic on Health Care—Back to the Future or New Direction?
  • Gerald Torres, Critical Race Theory: What It Is and Isn't
  • Loretta Neumann, Son of a Slave: A Black Man's Journey in White America
  • Stanley Thurston, Music Industry: Entrepreneurship and Creativity
  • Marion Lewin, Inseparable: My Family's Holocaust Journey
  • Nadine Farid Johnson, Book Banning in the United States and Abroad
  • Rev. Joe Eldridge, “Progressive Evangelical” Is Not an Oxymoron
  • James Johnston, James Alexander Simpson and the Early American Portrait Painters 
  • Anne “Dede” Neal Petri, Frederick Law Olmsted and His Parks
  • Judge Thomas Hogan, The January 6 Cases: A Trial Judge’s Perspective 
  • David Patterson, The Pinchots: A Family Saga

2022

  • Jonathan Ladd, How the News and Social Media Shaped Recent Presidential Campaigns
  • Virginia Mecklenburg, Edward Hopper and the Power of Place
  • Shari Lawrence Pfleeger, Who Wants to Know? Protecting Your Online Privacy in the 21st Century
  • Patricia Cole, Child Development—The Importance of the First Three Years
  • Larry Korb, National Security Policy in the Biden Administration
  • Leslie Fenwick, Jim Crow's Pink Slip: The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership
  • Mark Horowitz, Oscar Hammerstein: Behind the Raindrops and Roses 
  • Jack Rasmussen, The Art of Political Engagement (and Why Washington Art Rarely Does)
  • Charlene Barshefsky, US–China Relations
  • Alexa Chopivsky, Ukraine: A Multigenerational Story of State-Building Through the Eyes of One Family
  • Judy Waxman, Women Have Always Tried to Control Their Fertility 
  • Kristin Henning, The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth
  • Eugene Procknow, George Washington and His Feuding Generals
  • Joele Michaud, Art Tells Us About the Black Experience in America
  • David Wessel, How is the Federal Reserve Handling Inflation?
  • Steven Honigberg, How a Symphony Happens
  • Maya MacGuineas, Just How Bad is the Federal Budget Situation?
  • Juliette Kayyem, The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters
  • Peter Marks, Thoughts on the Broadway and Washington Theater Scenes 
  • Tony Gittens, Exploring the World in an International Film Festival 
  • Dick Wegman and Paul Hoff, Is the Supreme Court Really Too Political? 
  • Ken Babby, How to Make Baseball Fun Again
  • Daniel Crocker, Corruption, Politics, and International Trade 
  • Steven Steinbach, Teaching the Constitution
2021

  • Michael Abramowitz, The Threats to Freedom and the Work of Freedom House
  • Marie Arana, Silver, Sword, and Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story
  • Nathan Billig, On Growing Older and Wiser and Joining a Village
  • Jack Bray, Face to Face He Told Hitler “No”
  • Kevin Bushweller, How COVID-19 Is Transforming K-12 Education: What the Public Needs to Know
  • Raymond Caldwell, Making Theater Meaningful in DC and Beyond
  • Robert Einhorn, Nuclear Negotiation with Iran and North
  • Daniel Goldman, Lessons Learned from the Impeachments of Donald Trump: Is Impeachment a Viable Means of Accountability?
  • Rose Gottermoeller, Negotiating the New START Treaty
  • Christine Grady, Connecting Bioethics and COVID
  • Bradley Graham & Lissa Muscatine,  Politics and Prose
  • William Howell, Presidents, Populism, and Democracy
  • Mark Leithauser, Moving Walls and Making Space: Designing Exhibits at the National Gallery
  • Norman Ornstein, Governing Ahead: Where Do We Go from Here?
  • Adam Rothman, The Georgetown University Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation Initiative
  • Sandy Ungar, How Free Is Free Speech?

2020
 
  • Kenneth D. Ackerman, Trotsky in New York, 1917
  • Joel Charny
  • Neil Eggleston, Reflections on Attorney General Barr’s 2019 Speeches to Notre Dame and the Federalist Society
  • Judy  Feder, Time for a Change? The Future of US Health Insurance
  • Glenn Frankel, The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of High Noon
  • Dorothy Gilliam, Thoughts on Journalism and Diversity: A Conversation with Judy Havemann
  • Wil  Haygood, Unraveling the Life of Sammy Davis Junior
  • William  Kloss, Art in America - Historical Perspectives
  • Craig  Kraft, Light Sculptor
  • George Musgrove, Race and Police Reform in the Nation's Capital
  • Jason Samenow, How Is Climate Changing Affecting Washington’s Weather?
  • Fanchon Silverstein,  ART inSIGHT: Understanding Art and Why It Matters
  • Michael Southwick, Lecture in Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations
  • Judith Welles, Grit and Gusto: Farmerettes and Suffragettes on the Homefront in WWI
  • Helen  Zughaib, Unfinished Journey: Tracing the Arc of the Arab Spring Through the Syrian Civil War and Refugee Crisis, Through Painting and Installations

2019

  • Jeremy Brown, Influenza and Emergency Medicine
  • Scott C. Clarkson, The Insolvent Printmaker: The Life and Bankruptcy of Rembrandt van Rijn
  • David Jonathan Cohen, Eighty Years of "Adult Development"
  • Ron Elving, How Are American Elections Changing?
  • Joseph Esposito, Dinner of Genius
  • Stefan Fatsis, Scrabble
  • Mary  Fitch, The Golden Age of Washington—Is Right Now
  • Mark  Furstenberg, Bringing Bread to Washington
  • James  Goodby, Nuclear Arms Control: Is it Finished? Does It Matter? What Can We Do?
  • Justin Jacobs, China's War on Terrorism
  • Gayle Jessup White, Revisiting Monticello
  • Marvin Kalb, Enemy of People
  • Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Life and Times
  • William Kristol, A Conversation with a Conservative
  • Jim Lardner, Whatever Happened to Financial Reform?
  • Pamela Long, Infrastructure in the Eternal City
  • William  Lucas, Mandela and deKlerk: The Miracle
  • Theodore C. Lutz, METRO at the Creation
  • Howard McCurdy, 2071: A Space Odyssey
  • Liza Mundy, Code Girls
  • George Derek Musgrove, Chocolate City
  • Radha  Muthain, The Capital Area Food Bank: 30 Million Meals a Year and That's Only the Beginning
  • Ron Naveen, Penguins, Antarctic, Climate Change...And You!
  • Charles A. Ray, Ethical Diplomacy
  • Jason Rezaian, Prisoner: 544 Days in Evin Prison
  • Mervin Richard, Conservation
  • Stephanie  Stebich, The Smithsonian American Art Museum: Reflecting the American Experience and Global Connections
  • Mike Tidwell, The Shocking Impacts of Climate Change in DC
  • Marlene Trestman, Bessie Margolin: An Unsung Crusader for Workers' Rights
  • Judge Robert  Wilkins, A Museum for African Americans: 100 Years in the Making
  • Kim Williams, Last Farms and Estates of Washington, DC
 
2018

  • Amat Alsoswa, Yemen: An Update
  • Michael  Dobbs, One Minute to Midnight—The Cuban Missile Crisis
  • Edward Doyle-Gillespie, Policeman by Day, Poet by Night
  • Stuart Eizenstat, President Carter, The White House Years
  • Anthony Fauci, The Zika Virus
  • Bruce Fein, Today: The Best of Times for Presidential Wars; The Worst of Times for Liberty
  • Marcia Greenberger, Women's Rights, Where Have We Been, Where Are We Going?
  • Nate Jones, Nuclear War by Miscalculation?
  • Julie Kent, In Pursuit—A Ballerina Reflects on Her Artistic Journey
  • Charles Lane, American Dream or Nightmare? Home Ownership Reconsidered
  • Milton C. Lee, Jr., The Fathering Court
  • Charles Lewis, Investigative Journalism: The Best and Worst of Times
  • Mbachur Mbenda, Free Minds
  • Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran and America
  • Scott Pearson, Why Have Charter Schools?
  • Jack Rasmussen, The Corcoran Legacy
  • Jonathan Rauch, The Happiness Curve
  • Hunter Rawlings,  American Universities: Some Questions and Answers
  • Alice Rogoff, The Arctic: Why It Matters
  • Deborah F. Rutter, The Kennedy Center: A Living Memorial and 21st Century Arts Center
  • David Vine, Bases of War
  • Anthony Willams, Washington: Past, Present, and Future