Thu., Nov. 12, 2026, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.Fri., Nov. 13, 2026, 9:30 a.m.–7 p.m.
General: $50; Society of Fellows, Members & Readers: $30 (students, volunteers, and research fellows free) Optional lunch: $20 (each day)
THIS LAND IS...
Rothenberg Hall
Schedule is tentative and subject to change. Speakers include Claudio Saunt (University of Georgia), Julie Fiveash (Diné; Graphic Novelist), William Camargo (Artist), Desha Dauchan (University of California, Irvine), Natalia Molina (University of Southern California), and more.
9 a.m. | Registration and coffee
9:30 a.m. | Welcome
9:45 a.m. | Panel 1: Roots: Reframing the American Revolution
This opening conversation approaches the history and legacy of 1776 from the vantage of Southern California in 2026, bringing broad geographic research from the Age of Revolutions into the here and now.
10:45 a.m. | Panel 2: Uprootings: Intersecting Lands: Indigenous and Asian American Histories
This panel discussion excavates the layered history of World War II incarceration camps (especially the Gila River and Poston War Relocation Centers) that imprisoned Japanese American people on sovereign Native American lands in Arizona.
12:15 p.m. | Lunch
1:30 p.m. | Panel 3: Amendments: The Civil War and Greater Reconstruction
This discussion meditates on the legacy of the Civil War and its relationship with American expansion to the Western United States, adding new forms of freedom, unfreedom, nationhood, and culture to our understandings of this pivotal era.
3 p.m. | Self-guided tour of “This Land Is …” with curator in-gallery Q&A
9:30 a.m. | Registration and coffee
10 a.m. | Panel 4: Edge Effects: Mapping and Unmapping Borders
This panel highlights several interdisciplinary approaches in contending with the sweeping effects of the United States-Mexico border across time.
12 p.m. | Lunch + AMBOS Pop-up
2 p.m. | Panel 5: Disturbances: Reverberations of the Haitian Revolution
This panel examines the relationship of the Haitian Revolution with United States history and memory through Noni Olabisi’s Troubled Island mural in Los Angeles.
Screening: Noni Olabisi: Troubled Island, directed by Desha Dauchan (12 min.)
4 p.m. | Break
5:30 p.m. | Closing Session: Regenerations: Spoken Word and Musical “Hootenanny”
Contributors to the This Land Is … companion volume reflect on 250 years of American land and history, interspersed with four musical selections related to the exhibition.
THIS LAND IS … is a sweeping multiyear initiative that invites visitors to reflect on the American story through the lens of land. Anchored by the tagline “Reflections for America at 250,” the initiative draws on The Huntington’s library, art, and botanical collections to spotlight relationships between land, United States history, and American identities. Discover a season of exhibitions, experiences, and conversations across the campus: www.huntington.org/this-land-is
