You're browsing History Lessons in Chicago, IL

Oaks once dominated midwestern forests and our imaginations. From historical times to today, discover the many ways humans, birds, animals, and insects have used and treasured these big beauties.  We will examine where these trees are typically found in nature, their myriad uses over the centuries, folklore and stories, plus faunal partnerships....

Explore the history of photography, beginning in 1827 with the first photograph, through the age of daguerreotype portraits, the photograph’s early development as an art form, the invention of Kodak’s Brownie camera, to contemporary photography. Discover great photographers and examine how this relatively new medium has affected our culture.

Remember when feminism happened, and Georgia O’Keeffe kicked butt, and now museums and the art world totally treat male and female artists with equal value? JK JK IT’S STILL SUPER BAD!  On this two-hour tour of the Art Institute of Chicago, we get three things done: We celebrate the awesome women who ARE represented We fill you in on some...

Contexts of Early Modern Literary Criticism in Italy and Beyond The symposium, designed for a broad audience of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members, local scholars, and the interested general public, will introduce participants to: the extraordinary array of relevant research materials in the collection of the Newberry the crucial...

Words are powerful and operate on many levels through sound and symbols. Explore how to use hieroglyphics and apply them with meditation, divination, and dream work. Harness and enliven ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics as tools for manifesting ideas in the material world. Join Ellis, author of Hieroglyphic Power of Words, to gain a deep experience...

Not only do the seedpods of perennials feed birds and wildlife throughout winter, they add a rich textural element to the dormant garden. Explore seeds, pods, and stems that bring interesting shapes and structure to the garden.

Discover the world of maples. From the sweetness of sugar to the sturdiness of furniture to the myriad species of moths that dwell in their branches, explore where these trees are typically found and how they have been used over the centuries.  Hear folklore and stories and learn about faunal partnerships. We’ll also look at species and cultivars...

Thrive is an unconventional documentary that lifts the veil on what is really going on in our world by following the money upstream and uncovering the global consolidation of power in nearly every aspect of our lives. Weaving together breakthroughs in science, consciousness, and activism, Thrive offers real solutions, empowering us with unprecedented...

The prolific nineteenth century portrait painter George P. A. Healy had no formal training yet his sitters were a definitive who’s who of society, culture, and prestige. So how did this Boston born painter make his way to Chicago via Paris? And why does the Newberry own several of his prestigious works? Find out the answers to these burning questions...

When Shakespeare first used the word “equivocation” in Hamlet it was in the neutral sense of “ambiguous.” Seven years later he would make much of this word in Macbeth (whose protagonist complains of the ‘equivocation of the fiend /That lies like truth”). By then the word “equivocation” was understood to mean something duplicitous, a...

This is a one time FREE course The Politics of Conversion: An Early Modern Studies Conference This is the third meeting under the general rubric of Politics of Conversion, sponsored by Early Modern Conversions: Religions, Cultures, Cognitive Ecologies, a multi-year SSHRC-funded project. The first, smaller, meeting was held at the University...

 In this bold new history, Kamensky recovers an unknown American Revolution as seen through the eyes of Boston-born painter John Singleton Copley. Award-winning Harvard historian Jane Kamensky masterfully untangles the web of principles and interests that shaped the age of America’s revolution.  Copley’s prodigious talent earned him...

In this strange chapter of the Earth’s history, the world continues to be in a momentous transformational process. This rite of passage through multiple crises of the novel coronavirus pandemic, pervasive injustice, oppression, inequalities, and extreme weather conditions, can be challenging. Yet, it is an opportunity to stay positive—balanced...