Watch, Read, Listen

Andrea Wulf, the New York Times bestselling author, discusses her new illustrated book, The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt—her second work about the intrepid explorer and naturalist.

Allison L. Strom, Carnegie Fellow at the Carnegie Observatories, shows how astronomers are now using the world’s largest telescopes to determine the chemical DNA of even very distant galaxies, and how this information is answering key questions about how galaxies like our own formed and evolved.

Sean Bradley, Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington, explores the history and development of an early text on emergency Chinese medicine, the Zhouhou beiji fang 肘後備急方 (Emergency Medicines to Keep on Hand), by the 4th-century alchemist and scholar, Ge Hong 葛洪.

The use and abuse of stereotypes is not limited to present-day politics. In this conference, experts in British and American history examine stereotypes related to such vital issues as race, religion, gender, nationality, and occupation. The program explores how stereotyping then, as now, persisted across different spheres of life; how individuals and groups responded; and with what consequences.