Vermont Humanities

Speakers Bureau Events

Man giving a talk in a bike shop
Speakers Bureau

These Speakers Bureau events are hosted by non-profits across Vermont. All are open to the public. Vermont organizations can book talks through our Speakers Bureau catalog, which offers thought-provoking presentations by scholars on diverse humanities topics.

Upcoming Speakers Bureau Events

Image of young man reading a newspaper
Live Event

Sorting the News from the Chaff

Paradoxically, the Internet has made it both easier and harder to find “truth.” Almost everything we could ever want to know is available online, but how can we tell the good sources from the bad ones, discern fact from assumption, and distinguish “fake news” from the real thing? And how can we effectively communicate with others when discussing or debating public issues in the news? Veteran journalist and educator Mark Timney will explore these questions and share strategies for evaluating news sources in the rapidly changing digital information age.

Image of Vermont field in winter
Live Event

Vermont, 1800 and Froze to Death: The Cold Year of 1816

1816 has long been known as the year without summer. Vermonters still call it “1800 and Froze to Death,” a year of frosts every month, dark skies, and mysterious lights that caused a widespread belief that a higher power was displeased. In this talk, historian Howard Coffin includes scores of anecdotes on the dark year of failed crops, scarce food, and religious revival.

Speakers Bureau presenter Rajnii Eddins
Live Event

The Value of Our Stories

Each one of us has a story that is valuable. Rajnii Eddins utilizes spoken word as a tool for engagement in conversations about race, culture, equity and the richness to be found in each of our stories. In this presentation, Eddins will share his poetry and the historical context in which it was created. He will discuss how our stories can be used to confront racism and other injustices, affirm diversity and equity, and initiate community dialogue. He will conclude with a conversation about how attendees can share their stories as a way to create healing and to grow mutual understanding.

Image of theater curtain
Live Event

Vermont’s Historic Theater Curtains

Between 1880 and World War II, painted theater curtains were artistic features of most New England villages and towns. Christine Hadsel provides a glimpse into the world of talented and often sophisticated artists who were part of the rural cultural scene, illustrating the rich cultural history of small-town Vermont before World War I.

Image of Vermont field in winter
Live Event

Vermont, 1800 and Froze to Death: The Cold Year of 1816

1816 has long been known as the year without summer. Vermonters still call it “1800 and Froze to Death,” a year of frosts every month, dark skies, and mysterious lights that caused a widespread belief that a higher power was displeased. In this talk, historian Howard Coffin includes scores of anecdotes on the dark year of failed crops, scarce food, and religious revival.

Live Event

Red Scare in the Green Mountains: Vermont in the McCarthy Era

What happened in Vermont when the anti-Communist fear known as the “Red Scare” swept the country? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Rick Winston, author of the book “Red Scare in the Green Mountains: Vermont in the McCarthy Era,” explores some forgotten history as we see how a small, rural “rock-ribbed Republican” state with a historically libertarian streak handled the hysteria of the time.

Image of Morgan Horse
Live Event

Justin Morgan’s Horse: Making an American Myth

All Morgan horses today trace their lineage back to a single horse: a mystery stallion named Figure, owned by singing teacher Justin Morgan in the late 18th century. But who was Figure, really? What stories have people told about him in the two centuries since he lived and worked in Vermont?

Live Event

Red Scare in the Green Mountains: Vermont in the McCarthy Era

What happened in Vermont when the anti-Communist fear known as the “Red Scare” swept the country? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Rick Winston, author of the book “Red Scare in the Green Mountains: Vermont in the McCarthy Era,” explores some forgotten history as we see how a small, rural “rock-ribbed Republican” state with a historically libertarian streak handled the hysteria of the time.

Image of 1893 bicycle club
Live Event

Of Wheelmen, The New Woman, and Good Roads: Bicycling in Vermont, 1880-1920

During the 1890s, enthusiasm exploded statewide as bicycles became safer, women took to the wheel, roads improved, and retailers developed novel advertising techniques to draw in buyers. By 1920, popular interest in bicycles had waned, but it had not just been a fad: the bicycle was tied to important changes in industrial production, consumerism, new road policies and regulations, gender relations, and new cultural ideas about auto-mobility and effortless speed.

Image of Morgan Horse
Live Event

Justin Morgan’s Horse: Making an American Myth

All Morgan horses today trace their lineage back to a single horse: a mystery stallion named Figure, owned by singing teacher Justin Morgan in the late 18th century. But who was Figure, really? What stories have people told about him in the two centuries since he lived and worked in Vermont?

Bill Mares and friend with beer
Live Event

From Homebrew to the House of Fermentology

Bill Mares began making his own beer 45 years ago, when home brewing was illegal and there were no microbreweries in America. In this presentation, he offers a short history of beer itself and discusses Vermont’s small but significant contribution to the American beer revolution.

Image for Alfred Hitchcock and the Art of Suspense
Live Event

Alfred Hitchcock and the Art of Suspense

Hitchcock famously said “Some films are slices of life; mine are slices of cake.” His career spanned forty years and many film eras. Film expert Rick Winston will discuss the evolution of Hitchcock’s craft, exploring his favorite themes, his relationship with his collaborators, and his wry sense of humor no matter how grisly the subject matter.

Image for Alfred Hitchcock and the Art of Suspense
Live Event

Alfred Hitchcock and the Art of Suspense

Hitchcock famously said “Some films are slices of life; mine are slices of cake.” His career spanned forty years and many film eras. Film expert Rick Winston will discuss the evolution of Hitchcock’s craft, exploring his favorite themes, his relationship with his collaborators, and his wry sense of humor no matter how grisly the subject matter.

Image of woman
Live Event

Vermont Women and the Civil War

Historian Howard Coffin explains, with nearly 35,000 of the state’s able-bodied men at war, how women took on farming, worked in factories, served as nurses in the state’s military hospitals, and more. And at least one Vermont woman appears to have secretly enlisted and fought in a Vermont regiment!

Drawing from letters and diaries, Coffin tells their story in their own words, describe life during the Civil War in the Green Mountain State.

Image of painting of medieval kitchen helpers
Live Event

Soup to Nuts: An Eccentric History of Food

The history of what and how we eat encompasses everything from the prehistoric mammoth luau to the medieval banquet to the modern three squares a day. Find out about the rocky evolution of table manners, the not-so-welcome invention of the fork, the awful advent of portable soup, and the surprising benefits of family dinners – plus some catchy info on seasonal foods.

Vermont Humanities*** December 9, 2021