On December 27, 1831, after Charles Darwin and Captain Robert Fitzroy shared a final lunch of mutton chops and champagne ashore, the Beagle got underway. Darwin’s firsthand account of the journey, The Voyage of the Beagle, is one of history’s greatest true adventure stories. The voyage was supposed to last two years, but it ended up stretching out to five.
During the course of this great adventure, Darwin began to make connections that would forever change humanity’s view of the world and our place in it. This illustrated talk will focus on the voyage that inspired Darwin to become an eloquent spokesman for the capacity of carefully researched science to inform humanity about the hidden truths of the universe, and provided the crucial underpinnings of one of the cornerstone theories of modern science.
Mileage
Projector and screen
Available in correctional facilities.
First, contact the speaker by clicking on their biography below to confirm their availability and discuss any special arrangements.
Then, click this “Book this Talk!” button to send a request form to Vermont Humanities. We’ll respond within one week.
Contact Jacob Pelletier at jpelletier@vermonthumanities.org.
A native Vermonter and current resident of Putney, Tim Weed is an award-winning novelist and lecturer. He is the author of four books of fiction, including The Afterlife Project, named a best book of 2025 by Library Journal and the Toronto Star.
On December 27, 1831, after Charles Darwin and Captain Robert Fitzroy shared a final lunch of mutton chops and champagne ashore, the Beagle got underway. Darwin’s firsthand account of the journey, The Voyage of the Beagle, is one of history’s greatest true adventure stories. The voyage was supposed to last two years, but it ended up stretching out to five.
Tim Weed explores Cuba’s long struggle for sovereignty, from the Spanish-American war of 1898 to the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
Some of Ernest Hemingway’s novels and short stories are considered among the greatest ever written. He’s also remembered as an international man of letters, a famous expatriate and macho outdoorsman spending all the right seasons in all the right places: Paris, Pamplona, Key West, Havana, Sun Valley, on safari in Africa. But Hemingway’s life was more complicated than the glamorous image that lives in the popular imagination.
Our seasonal “Words in the Woods” program allows Vermonters and visitors to enjoy our state’s natural beauty while listening to and reading literature in the outdoors.
Humanities Camps are filled with reading and writing projects, field trips, and outdoor activities.
We won a 2020 Schwartz Prize for best public humanities programming in the U.S. for Vermont Reads 2019: “March: Book One.”
We supported the Chandler Center for the Arts’ Global Connections Youth Outreach program, which highlights artists from around the world.
Our free public events help bring the power of the humanities to communities across Vermont.
