HOME /

Events

    Magic and Demonology in Ancient Egypt

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge

    Ancient Egyptian texts and objects associated with funerary rituals often include references to “magic” and “demons.” Rita Lucarelli will look at how these concepts were defined and used in ancient Egypt, with a special focus on the roles that demons played in magical practices and spells. Through an examination of textual and material sources produced from the early Pharaonic to the Greco-Roman periods, she will also address how Egyptian beliefs about demons compare with those of other ancient cultures.

    ...

    Read more about Magic and Demonology in Ancient Egypt

    Countering Authoritarianism and Nationalism: Russia Needs Multiple Liberal Leaders

    Location: 

    Center for Government and International Studies South Building, Room S354, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge

    Join us at the Center for Government and International Studies for a comparative politics seminar, "Countering Authoritarianism and Nationalism: Russia Needs Multiple Liberal Leaders," with speaker Zhanna Nemtsova.

    After studying economics at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), Zhanna Nemtsova pursued a career in journalism at the Russian business news channel RBC TV, where she worked as a host and interviewed political and business figures. Following the assassination of her father, political opposition leader and Putin-critic Boris Nemtsov in...

    Read more about Countering Authoritarianism and Nationalism: Russia Needs Multiple Liberal Leaders

    Are Koreans Human? A Lecture with Best-Selling Author Min Jin Lee

    Location: 

    Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge

    Who are the modern Koreans, and what do they care about? Koreans have experienced colonialism, diaspora, war, national division, immigration, and a persistent nuclear threat—and yet, they have achieved extraordinary gains in their homelands and elsewhere. Min Jin Lee, the author of the novels Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko who is working on the third novel of The Koreans trilogy, will explore the will of Koreans to survive and flourish as global citizens, their enduring faith in education, and the costs of such a quest and what it may mean...

    Read more about Are Koreans Human? A Lecture with Best-Selling Author Min Jin Lee

    Bear at the Border: Russian Foreign Policy in Europe

    Location: 

    CGIS South Building, Room S354, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge

    Russia has become increasingly assertive on the world stage, particularly in its intent to maintain a sphere of influence in Eurasia and Eastern Europe. More recently, Moscow has also become comfortable with interfering in Western Europe through asymmetric means. What is the Russian government’s strategy toward Europe? What are the levers of influence at the Kremlin's disposal and how does it wield them in Eastern vs Western Europe? At this seminar, Dr. Busygina and Dr. Polyakova will discuss the opportunities and constraints facing Russia with a specific look at Western Europe and...

    Read more about Bear at the Border: Russian Foreign Policy in Europe

    Lecture and Book Signing: The Hunt for Human Nature in Cold War America

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

    After World War II, evolutionary scientists began rethinking their views on humanity’s past. What if human history was not merely a cooperative struggle against a harsh environment? What if violence and war were normal states of existence, punctuated by brief moments of peace? These are the questions Erika Lorraine Milam explores in her new book, Creatures of Cain: The Hunt for Human Nature in Cold War America. She will discuss how anthropologists and zoologists during the Cold-War era struggled to reconcile humanity’s triumph as a species with the possibility that this...

    Read more about Lecture and Book Signing: The Hunt for Human Nature in Cold War America

    Origins of the Green Revolution: Hybrid Seeds, Hunger, and Mexico-India Cooperation

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

    Gabriela Soto Laveaga, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University

    As a devastating famine gripped India and Pakistan in 1966, a cargo of hybrid wheat seeds from Mexico arrived one fateful day on India’s coast. The seeds were first planted across the Punjab region using new...

    Read more about Origins of the Green Revolution: Hybrid Seeds, Hunger, and Mexico-India Cooperation

    Photographing Tutankhamun: How the Camera Helped Create “King Tut”

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

    Christina Riggs, Professor of the History of Art and Archaeology, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom

    When Howard Carter found the sealed entrance to Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, he secured the services of archaeological photographer Harry Burton to document the site. Over the course of ten years, Burton produced more than 3,000 glass negatives of the tomb, its contents, and the many people—including Egyptian men, women, and children—who participated in the excavation. Christina Riggs will discuss how Burton’s photography helped create “King Tut” at a...

    Read more about Photographing Tutankhamun: How the Camera Helped Create “King Tut”

    Archaeology Live: Harvard College Life in Colonial Times

    Location: 

    Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA

    Peer into an active archaeological excavation and learn about the oldest section of North America’s first college, founded in 1636. Harvard archaeology students will answer your questions, demonstrate archaeological methods, and display recent finds from the seventeenth century that reflect how Harvard College students—centuries ago—ate, dressed, and amused themselves, among other experiences. Drop by any time during this 90-minute event. The site is in Harvard Yard, steps away...

    Read more about Archaeology Live: Harvard College Life in Colonial Times

    Origins of the Silk Roads

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

    Approximately 4,000 years ago, the peoples of China and Eurasia gradually began to develop networks of interaction and exchange that radically transformed the cultures of both regions. These networks eventually gave rise to the Silk Road trade routes connecting the East and West. Rowan Flad will examine the archaeological evidence—from the Qijia Culture of Northwest China—that documents the agricultural, metallurgical, and technological innovations that resulted from the earliest trans-Eurasian exchanges, and how studies of the Silk Road origins are being reinvigorated by China’s One...

    Read more about Origins of the Silk Roads

    Memories of the Kings and Queens of Kush: Archaeology and Heritage at El Kurru

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

    Geoff Emberling, Research Scientist, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology; Lecturer, Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan

    Ancient Nubia was one of Africa’s earliest centers of political authority, wealth, and military power. After the Nubian kings and queens of Kush rose to power around 800 BCE, they controlled a vast empire along the Middle Nile (now Northern Sudan) and conquered Egypt to rule as its Twenty-fifth Dynasty. The kingdom’s political center, known as El Kurru, was first excavated by George Reisner in 1918–1919 on behalf of the...

    Read more about Memories of the Kings and Queens of Kush: Archaeology and Heritage at El Kurru

    Ancient Brews Rediscovered and Re-Created

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

    Patrick E. McGovern, Scientific Director, Biomolecular Archaeology Project for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology; Adjunct Professor of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania

    The makers of the earliest fermented beverages must have marveled at the “magical” process by which mixtures of wild fruits, honey, and cereals produced mind-altering drinks. In this special event, Patrick McGovern will venture back to the origins of brewing in the ancient world. Drawing on archaeology,...

    Read more about Ancient Brews Rediscovered and Re-Created

    How to Increase Bipartisan Leadership on Climate Change

    Location: 

    Kresge Building, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA

    Join us for the next “Voices in Leadership” event of the fall semester, featuring Rep. Bob Inglis, former U.S. Representative for South Carolina. Rep. Inglis was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1992, having never run for office before. In 2011, Inglis went full-time into promoting free enterprise action on climate change and launched the Energy and Enterprise Initiative (“E&EI”) at George Mason University in July 2012. In the fall of 2014, E&EI rebranded to become republicEn.org. republicEn is a growing grassroots community of over 5,000 Americans educating the country about free...

    Read more about How to Increase Bipartisan Leadership on Climate Change

Pages