Watch, Read, Listen

What are “religious affections” and how have they influenced individuals, communities, and cultures? Leading experts in history, literature, and religious studies explore how religion shaped the roots, limits, and consequences of affections in the diverse terrain of early America.

Mary Terrall, professor of the history of science at UCLA, discusses French botanist Michel Adanson, who spent almost five years in Senegal in the 1750s. Terrall reconstructs Adanson’s sojourn in a French trading post, where he studied African natural history with the help of local residents.

The acclaimed dance company Diavolo brings its performance of Fluid Infinities to The Huntington. Set on an abstract dome structure to the music of Phillip Glass, the work explores metaphors of infinite space, continuous movement, and mankind’s voyage into the unknown.

The Huntington presents a fascinating conversation about the practice of medicine during the U.S. Civil War and its dramatization in the popular PBS series “Mercy Street.” The panel discussion is moderated by Melissa Lo, Dibner Assistant Curator or Science and Technology at The Huntington, and includes curator Olga Tsapina, who oversees The Huntington’s Civil War collections; series executive producers Lisa Wolfinger and David Zabel; and series medical history advisor Shauna Devine.