Emma Willard founded the first school for women’s higher education in the United States. Saint Michael’s professor Susan Ouellette describes how the opportunities provided by Willard’s schools laid the groundwork for the early suffrage movement. (Pre-registration required.) Read More »

From Charlotte’s Web to his exquisite essays in The New Yorker, E.B. White remains the master’s master of elegant prose, sophisticated wit, and graceful irreverence. (Pre-registration required.) Read More »

In making infrastructure developments and investments in nearly 70 countries, China is seeking to restructure the world economy and energetically expand its global influence. Derek Boothby, explores the breadth and depth of this massive global initiative, and considers what it might mean for America’s future. Read More »

The works of Shakespeare are full of salty metaphors that reveal a profound familiarity with the ocean and its creatures. Middlebury professor Daniel Brayton discusses the role of the sea in Renaissance literary culture in general and in Shakespeare’s plays in particular. Read More »

The first European to divide the people of the world into distinct races did so in the 17th century. This bizarre categorization developed into one of the most historically significant ideas of the modern world. Marlboro professor William Edelglass traces the intellectual history of the concept of race in the West, from its prehistory to today. Read More »

American anti-intellectualism has a long and colorful history, but the triumph of Silicon Valley laid these prejudices to rest...or did it? Professor of psychology David Anderegg explores whether we really love nerds and geeks now. Read More »