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Past 2014 Events & News
JANUARY
Lecture
"'I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke': Coca-Cola Advertising and Cultural Revolutions of the 1960s"
January 16, 2014, 12:00 –1:00 p.m.
LJ-113, Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress (view map).
Scholar Amanda Ciafone, Kluge Fellow, on the cultural and social movements around The Coca-Cola Company. Learn More
Co-sponsored by the Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcast and Recorded Sound Division
Annual Maguire Address
“Ethics, Politics, and Institutions: A Moral Vocabulary for Modern Democracy”
January 23, 2014, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m., LJ-119
This event was rescheduled from October 2013
Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress (view map).
Dr. Robin Lovin, 2013 Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History, on how to re-introduce a moral vocabulary into contemporary politics.
Astrobiology Program
"Searching for Life in the Universe: What Does it Mean for Humanity?"
January 28, 2014, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
LJ-119,
Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress (view map).
Scholars David H. Grinspoon and Steven J. Dick, two of the world’s leading astrobiology researchers, in a unique public conversation on the societal implications of astrobiology. Grinspoon and Dick are the Kluge Center’s outgoing and incoming Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chairs in Astrobiology, respectively.
FEBRUARY
Lecture
“Mexico’s Cold War: Cuba, the United States, and the Struggle Over the Legacy of the Mexican Revolution”
February 20, 2014, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
LJ-113, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map).
Scholar Renata Keller, Kluge Fellow, on her forthcoming book on the Cold War in Mexico.
Co-sponsored by the Library of Congress Hispanic Division and Hispanic Cultural Society
Panel Discussion
"World Christianity, Immigration, and the U.S.: The Non-Western Church Comes to America"
February 26, 2014, 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
LJ-119, Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress (view map).
Four distinguished scholars of religion on the interconnectivity of Christianity, immigration and American religion.
Event page
Read the news release
This event was rescheduled from October 2013
Lecture
“States of Exclusion: Britain and France, 1685-1715”
February 27, 2014, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
LJ-113, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building. (view map).
Scholar Scott Sowerby, Kluge Fellow, on the inclusion and exclusion of religious minorities in France and England.
MARCH
Lecture
“Psychiatry and Brazilian Republicanism, 1889-1930”
March 6, 2014, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
RESCHEDULED FROM FEB. 13
LJ-113, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map).
Scholar Manuella Meyer, David B. Larson Fellow in Health and Spirituality, on the history of mental health, psychiatry, and social order in Brazil.
Co-sponsored by the Library of Congress Hispanic Division and Hispanic Cultural Society
Kissinger Program Series: “The Return of Realpolitik: A Window Into The Soul of Anglo-American Foreign Policy”
Applying Realpolitik: “America, the Muslim Brotherhood and Realpolitik: Understanding the Other”
March 13, 2014, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map).
Dr. John Bew, Kissinger Chair at the Library of Congress, and Dr. Martyn Frampton, Senior Lecturer in Modern History at Queen Mary University of London, discuss America’s engagement with, and understanding of, the Muslim Brotherhood since 1945 and what this says about concepts of realpolitik.
Part 1 of a 3-part series on realpolitik in practice and theory.
Kissinger Program Series: “The Return of Realpolitik: A Window Into The Soul of Anglo-American Foreign Policy”
“Challenging Realpolitik: Realpolitik and American Exceptionalism”
March 27, 2014, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map).
Dr. John Bew, Kissinger Chair at the Library of Congress, and noted historian Robert Kagan, discuss how realpolitik can be squared with the foreign policy of a nation which has always seen itself as exceptional.
Part 2 of a 3-part series on realpolitik in practice and theory.
APRIL
Kissinger Program Series: “The Return of Realpolitik: A Window Into The Soul of Anglo-American Foreign Policy”
“Excavating Realpolitik: Real Realpolitik: A History”
April 10, 2014, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map).
Dr. John Bew, Kissinger Chair at the Library of Congress, argues that real realpolitik is ripe for excavation and rediscovery, and that the original concept is still relevant to the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Part 3 of a 3-part series on realpolitik in practice and theory.
Book Talk & Discussion
“Jascha Heifetz the Iconic Violinist”
April 16, 2014, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map).
Three Heifetz experts discuss the life and legacy of the great twentieth-century Russian-American violinist.
Dario Sarlo, Kluge Fellow, independent scholar and researcher, and co-editor of Jascha Heifetz: Early Years in Russia (Indiana University Press, 2013).
Ayke Agus, professional violinist and pianist, assistant and confidante to Heifetz, and the author of Jascha Heifetz as I Knew Him (Amadeus Press, 2001).
Arthur Vered, publisher of the first full-length biography of Jascha Heifetz (Robert Hale, 1986).
Lecture
“Amazons in Paris: Ida Rubinstein and the Art of Travesty ”
April 17, 2014, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
LJ-113, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map).
Scholar Natalie Rouland, Kluge Fellow, discusses the use of travesty, or cross-dressing, in the performances of Russian-Jewish-turned-French-Catholic dancer, actress, and impresario Ida Rubinstein (1883-1960).
Lecture
“Joe Féraille: Louisiana’s Ogun and the Casey Jones of the North Caribbean”
April 23, 2014, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
LJ-113, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map).
Scholar Joshua Caffery, Alan Lomax Fellow in Folklife Studies and author of Traditional Music in Coastal Louisiana: The 1934 Lomax Recordings, discusses the linkages between West African mythology, Louisiana Cajun and Creole music, and the lore of the American railroad.
Co-sponsored by the American Folklife Center
Lecture
“The Edge of America: Landscape and National Identity in Early American Florida”
April 24, 2014, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
LJ-113, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map).
Scholar Michele Navakas, Kislak Fellow, discusses the settlement of Florida in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and how diverse communities of native inhabitants and non-native settlers imagined their relationship to the land.
JUNE
Kluge Conversations
Unique, cross-disciplinary dialogues among scholars-in-residence at the Kluge Center“The Myth of Wilderness: What's Left to Save and What Never Existed”
Thursday, June 5, 2014, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map)
The notion of wilderness as a pristine natural environment untouched by human activity is a powerful narrative in discourses of global climate change and literature. The wilderness conjures up feeling of nostalgia, tranquility, and a desire for active conservation. But has wilderness truly ever existed? And what role do both the realities and myths of human interaction with the wild have in framing human thoughts about place, time, and history? Astrobiologist David Grinspoon and literary scholar Charlotte Rogers will discuss how these ideas impact their research in both the scientific study of the history of the Earth and the history of literature about the Amazonian rainforest.
Featuring:
Dr. David Grinspoon, Distinguished Visiting Scholar at The John W. Kluge Center. A prominent astrobiologist, Dr. Grinspoon’s research investigates the current geological era in the Earth’s history “The Anthropocene” and the consequences for the planet.
Dr. Charlotte Rogers, Kluge Fellow at The John W. Kluge Center. An assistant professor of Latin American literature and culture at George Mason University, Dr. Rogers’s research explores narratives of loss and nostalgia in South American literature about Amazonia, in particular the mythical lost city of El Dorado.
Related links:
- David Grinspoon on the human chapter in the history of Earth [webcast] (external link)
- Charlotte Rogers on nostalgia and loss in South American literature [upcoming event]
- Astrobiology at the Kluge Center
Kluge Conversations
Unique, cross-disciplinary dialogues among scholars-in-residence at the Kluge Center“Astrobiology & Theology: A Discussion”
Wednesday, June 18, 2014, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map)
Discoveries of new, potentially habitable worlds beyond our solar system raise challenging questions for humanity vis-à-vis faith, human nature, reality and religion. An event hosted by the Library’s John W. Kluge Center will address the complex intersection of astrobiology and theology as part of the Center’s astrobiology program. The event features the Library’s current Astrobiology Chair Dr. Steven J. Dick in conversation with prominent theologian Dr. Robin Lovin. Read news release
Featuring:
Dr. Steven Dick, Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology at The John W. Kluge Center. A prominent astronomer, author and historian, Dr. Dick’s project at the Kluge Center examines the anticipated societal and humanistic impacts of discovering life beyond Earth.
Dr. Robin Lovin, 2013 Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History at The John W. Kluge Center. Dr. Lovin is a prominent theologian who has written extensively on religion, law, and comparative religious ethics. He is currently the Director of Research at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey.
Related links:
- Steven Dick on searching for life in the universe [webcast](external link)
- Robin Lovin on finding a moral vocabulary for politics [webcast](external link)
- Astrobiology at the Kluge Center
Lecture
“Mourning El Dorado: The Closing of the Amazonian Frontier in Contemporary South American Fiction”
Thursday, June 19, 2014, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
LJ-113, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map)
Scholar Charlotte Rogers, Kluge Fellow, discusses how literary works from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Guyana reinvent the myth of a fabulous city of gold, known as “El Dorado,” in today’s world, and how in the wake of deforestation and settlement in the Amazon river basin, current writers nostalgically mourn for a time when the region was seen as a place of potential wealth and opportunity.
Co-sponsored by the Hispanic Division and the Poetry & Literature Center
JULY
Lecture
“Spies, Allies, and Murder? The Ominous Origins of the 1968 Tet Offensive in Hanoi's Postcolonial War”
Wednesday, July 16, 2014, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map)
Professor Lien-Hang Nguyen, author of "Hanoi's War: An International History of the War for Peace in Vietnam," explores the origins of the planning in Hanoi for the 1968 Tet Offensive.
Part of the Ninth International Seminar on Decolonization
Lecture
“Decolonization and the Nation-State: Reflections on the 1958 Referendum in French West Africa”
Tuesday, July 22, 2014, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map)
Elizabeth Schmidt, Professor of History at Loyola University Maryland, discusses why the people of Guinea voted "no" in a referendum on a new French constitution in 1958.
Part of the Ninth International Seminar on Decolonization
AUGUST
Lecture
“Diagnosing Difference: Psychiatrists, Psychologists and the Medicalization of Racial Politics in Postwar America”
Thursday, August 7, 2014, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
Pickford Theater, Third floor, The James Madison Memorial Building (view map)
Scholar Sonia Lee, Kluge Fellow, examines how psychiatrists held an uneasy and troubled relationship with black freedom fighters from the civil rights era to the rise of mass incarceration.
Lecture
“The Gospel Sensibility: Evangelicals, Modernity, and Sacred Song in American Experience”
Thursday, August 14, 2014, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
Dining Room A, Sixth floor, The James Madison Memorial Building (view map)
Scholar Douglas Harrison, Kluge Fellow, examines the history, performance culture, and role of southern gospel music within evangelical Christian experiences.
SEPTEMBER
Astrobiology Symposium
“Preparing for Discovery: A Rational Approach to the Impact of Finding Microbial, Complex or Intelligent Life Beyond Earth”
Thursday and Friday, September 18-19, 2014, 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map)
Astrobiology Chair Steven Dick convenes scientists, historians, philosophers and theologians from around the world for a two-day symposium at the Library of Congress to explore how we prepare to face new knowledge that may challenge our very conceptions of life and our place in the universe. View event page
OCTOBER
Lecture
“How the Discovery of Life Beyond Earth Will Transform Our Thinking”
Thursday, October 30, 2014, 4:00 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map)
Astrobiology Chair Steven Dick discusses his year of research at the Library of Congress in his final lecture as chair.
NOVEMBER
Conference
“Václav Havel's Legacy Today”
Wednesday, November 19, 2014, 9:00 a.m.By invitation only.
The Embassy of the Czech Republic, The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, and the Václav Havel Center at Florida International University present the conference "Václav Havel’s Legacy Today" in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.
Part of a week-long celebration in Washington, D.C., to commemorate Václav Havel’s legacy. Learn more
DECEMBER
Lecture
“B.R. Ambedkar: The Life of the Mind and a Life in Politics”
Tuesday, December 2, 2014, 4:00 p.m.
LJ-113, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map)
A biography and intellectual history of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: politician, jurist, leader of the "untouchable" Dalits, founder of a sect of Neo-Buddhism, and principal architect of the Constitution of India. With Ananya Vajpeyi, intellectual historian based at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi; Global Ethics Fellow with the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, New York; and Kluge Fellow at The John W. Kluge Center.
Lecture
“Mapping New World Peoples in Renaissance Europe”
Wednesday, December 3, 2014, 12:00 p.m.
Geography and Map Division Research Center, Room B-01, Basement, James Madison Memorial Building (view map)
Kislak Fellow Surekha Davies discusses how Renaissance mapmakers devised distinctive motifs for the inhabitants of different parts of the Americas, and how images of Brazilian cannibals or Patagonian giants, for example, were careful syntheses that helped mapmakers market their works as uniquely suited for comparing the influence of environment on human bodies and temperaments.
Co-sponsored by the Geography and Map Division
Lecture
“American Centuries: Henry Wallace, Herbert Hoover, and Cold War America's Rise in the World”
Thursday, December 4, 2014, 12:00 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map)
Kevin Kim, Senior Lecturer in History at Vanderbilt University and 2014 Jameson Fellow in American History at The John W. Kluge Center, discusses how prominent New Dealer and former U.S. vice-president Henry Wallace and former U.S. president and revived Cold War statesman Herbert Hoover challenged and often transformed America and the world’s experiences in the Cold War.
Co-sponsored by the American Historical Association
Lecture
“Do We Mean What We See?” A Lecture on Visual Thinking
Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 4:00 p.m. -- new time
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map)
Peter Zilahy addresses the “iconic turn” in philosophy and challenges the audience to think by seeing. One of Hungary’s internationally successful writers, Zilahy has written four books and works in all genres including essays and opinion pieces for The New York Times and The Guardian. His dictionary novel, The Last Window Giraffe, has been translated into 22 languages. Zilahy has given lectures at New York University, Tufts University and Cambridge University among others. Zilahy is in residence at The John W. Kluge Center as a BMI-Kluge Fellow.
Lecture
“The Swastika Epidemic: Jewish Politics and Human Rights in the Cold War 1960s”
Thursday, December 11, 2014, 12:00 p.m.
LJ-119, First floor, Thomas Jefferson Building (view map)
Kluge Fellow James Loeffler shares research from his book-in-progress, a dual history of international human rights and Jewish politics across the twentieth century. His focus will be the outbreak of global antisemitism in 1960 that prompted a United Nations investigation, resulting in the creation of the world's first international law against racism and the new ideological charge: "Zionism is Racism."
Co-sponsored by the Hebrew Language Table of the Library of Congress and The Rabin Chair Forum of The George Washington University
Past Deadlines
December 6
Application deadline for the Kluge Fellowship in Digital Studies.
November 1
Application and nomination deadline for the Henry A. Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations.
July 15
Application deadline for Kluge Fellowships.
May 15, 2014
Application deadline for the Alan Lomax Fellowship in Folklife Studies.
May 15, 2014
Application deadline for the Kislak Short-term Fellowship for the Study of the History and Cultures of the Early Americas.
April 17, 2014
Application deadline for the David B. Larson Fellowship in Health and Spirituality.
February 14, 2014
Application deadline for the Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation Fellowship for Caricature and Cartoon.
