Past Events
[Videos of some of our past events are available. View past videos.]
Academic Years:
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks UNESCO World Heritage Site: Indigenous Wonders of the World
- Brad Lepper, Senior Archaeologist, Ohio History Connection, World Heritage Program
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University
November 10, 2025
The Trump Administration’s Domestic Policies: Insights from History
- Bart Elmore, Professor of History, The Ohio State University
- Maria Hammack, Assistant Professor of History, The Ohio State University
- Clay Howard, Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University
- Daniel Rivers, Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University
May 8, 2025
Trump’s Foreign Policy in Historical Perspective
- Peter L. Hahn, Distinguished University Professor, History, The Ohio State University
- Mitchell Lerner, Professor of History and Director of the East Asian Studies Center, The Ohio State University
- Jennifer Mitzen, Professor of Political Science, The Ohio State University
- Christopher McKnight Nichols, Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair in National Security Studies and Professor of History, The Ohio State University
- Dorothy Noyes (Moderator), Director, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Studies
May 6, 2025
Ohio Rivers: Stories of Empire and Industry
- David Stradling, Zane L. Miller Professor of History, University of Cincinnati
(Video of this presentation is not available.)
March 27, 2025
Early Encounters with Penguins
- Ellen Arnold, Senior Lecturer, Department of History, The Ohio State University
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University.
March 24, 2025
Empire's Daughters: Girls and Britain’s Colonial Past
- Elizabeth Dillenburg, Assistant Professor of History, The Ohio State University.
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University.
(Video of this presentation is not available.)
February 28, 2025
Remembering Bhopal: The World's Worst Industrial Disaster
- Madhumita Dutta, Associate Professor of Geography, The Ohio State University.
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University.
November 25, 2024
What was Wrong with the Judges at the Salem Witch Trials?
- Matt Goldish, Samuel M. and Esther Melton Chair in History at The Ohio State University.
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University.
November 7, 2024
Postwar Decolonization and its Discontents
- Lydia Walker, Provost Scholar Assistant Professor, Seth Andre Myers Chair in Global Military History, Department of History, The Ohio State University.
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University.
October 23, 2024
From College Towns into Knowledge Towns: On the Future of Town/Gown Relations
- David Staley is an historiographer, writer, designer, futurist, and journalist. He is an Associate Professor in the Departments of History, Design and Educational Studies at The Ohio State University.
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University.
March 7, 2024
Between Two Worlds: Jewish War Brides After the Holocaust
- Robin Judd, Associate Professor, Department of History, Ohio State University
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, Ohio State University
January 10, 2024
The United States & The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, Historical Perspectives
- Peter L. Hahn, Professor, Department of History, Ohio State University
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, Ohio State University
November 15, 2023
Country Capitalism: How Corporations from the American South Remade Our Economy and the Planet
- Bart Elmore, Professor, Department of History, Ohio State University
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, Ohio State University
Wed., October 4, 2023
1588: The Spanish Armada Still Loses
- Geoffrey Parker, Distinguished University Professor and Andreas Dorpalen Professor of European History, The Ohio State University
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching
May 8, 2023
Politics, Cinema, and Liberation in Burkina Faso
- James E. Genova, Professor of History, The Ohio State University
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Water Crisis on the Blue Planet: What Water’s Past tells us about Humanity’s Future
- Nicholas Breyfogle, Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching
- Bart Elmore, (Moderator), Associate Professor of Environmental History and Core Faculty, Sustainability Institute
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Who Owns Icebergs?
- Matthew H. Birkhold, Associate Professor of German at The Ohio State University, where he also teaches in the Moritz College of Law.
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching
March 6, 2023
(Video of this event is not available.)
Silent Spring Revolution, a Conversation with Douglas Brinkley
- Douglas Brinkley
February 2023
World War II Memory in Putin’s Russia
- David L. Hoffmann, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor, Department of History, The Ohio State University
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University
December 2, 2022, Noon - 1:00 p.m.
How does Ideology Drive U.S. Foreign Relations?
- Christopher McKnight Nichols, Professor of History and Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair in National Security Studies at The Ohio State University. An Andrew Carnegie Fellowship Award winner and Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer, Nichols is a frequent public commentator on U.S. politics and foreign policy. Nichols is the author or editor of six books, including most recently Ideology in U.S. Foreign Relations: New Histories (2022).
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University
November 21, 2022, Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Overturning Roe: The Past and Future of Abortion in the United States
Panelists:
- Susan Hartmann, Emeritus Professor of History, The Ohio State University
- Alison Norris, Associate Professor and Interim Chair, Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University
- Mytheli Sreenivas, Professor of History and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University
November 7, 2022, Noon-1:00 p.m.
(Video of this event is not available.)
Sweet Fuel: The Remarkable Story of Brazilian Ethanol
- Jennifer Eaglin, Assistant Professor of History and Sustainability Institute
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History, Director, Goldberg Center
May 10, 2022, Noon-1:00 p.m.
Understanding the War in Ukraine: Insights from the Recent Past, 1991 - Present
- David Hoffmann, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of History
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History, Director, Goldberg Center
April, 2022
Seed Money: Monsanto's Past and Our Food Future
- Bart Elmore, Associate Professor of Environmental History and Core Faculty, Sustainability Institute
- Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching
April 11, 2022, Noon-1:00 p.m.
Picturing Black History
Panel:
- Bob Ahern | Director of Archive Photography for Getty Images
- Dawn Chitty, (Ed.D.) | Director of Education at the African American Civil War Museum
- Daniela Edmeier (Moderator) | Ph.D. Candidate History, Ohio State, and Managing Editor of Picturing Black History
- Damarius Johnson | Ph.D. student History, Ohio State, and Associate Editor of Picturing Black History
- James Morgan | Programming Consultant with the African American Civil War Museum
Monday, March 21, 2022, Noon-1:00 p.m.
The Gospel of Judas: The Rediscovery of the Earliest Gnostic Gospel
David Brakke, Professor and Engle Chair in the History of Christianity, The Ohio State University
Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University
Tuesday, February 22, 2022, Noon-1:00 p.m.
The Global War on Drugs
Panel:
Dr. Isaac Peter Campos, Associate Professor of History, University of Cincinnati
Brionna Mendoza, Doctoral candidate in History, Ohio State
Dr. Sarah Brady Siff, Drug Enforcement & Policy Center, Moritz College of Law; Ohio State University
Nicholas Breyfogle, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, Ohio State
Monday, January 24, 2022, 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Cultural Diplomacy and the Global Cold War
Panel:
Nicholas Breyfogle | Associate Professor, Department of History; Director, Goldberg Center
Theodora Dragostinova | Associate Professor, Department of History
December 9, 2021
China and Africa: Historical Perspective on a Rising Power
Panel:
Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator) | Associate Professor, Department of History
Patrick Nash | Graduate Student, Department of History
Joe Parrott | Assistant Professor, Department of History
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Ideas of Race & Racism in History
a panel discussion with Department of History Faculty and Alumni
Panel:
Nicholas Breyfogle | Associate Professor, Department of History; Director, Goldberg Center, The Ohio State University
Alice Conklin | Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor, Department of History, The Ohio State University
Robin Judd | Associate Professor, Department of History, The Ohio State University
Hasan Jeffries | Associate Professor, Department of History, The Ohio State University
Deondre Smiles | Ph.D. Geography '20; Assistant Professor of Geography, University of Victoria, Canada
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Reproductive Politics and the Making of Modern India
Mytheli Sreenivas
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Ohio State University
September 9, 2021
Leaving Zion: Jewish Emigration from Palestine and Israel after WWII
Ori Yehudai
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Ohio State University
August 16, 2021
Diet for a Large Planet
Christopher Otter
Professor
Department of History
Ohio State University
June 7, 2021
Medieval Women's Rights: Setting the Stage for Today
Sara Butler
Professor and King George III Chair in British History
Department of History
Ohio State University
March 8, 2021
The Global History of HIV
Thomas McDow
Associate Professor
Department of History
Ohio State University
Dec. 1, 2020
A Historian’s Guide To Saving the Planet: What the History of Coke Can Teach Us About Curbing Pollution
Bart Elmore
Associate Professor
Department of History
Ohio State University
December 5, 2019
"Post-Truth" Moments in History
A panel discussion by John Brooke (History), Greg Anderson (History), Melissa Curley (Comparative Studies) and Bert Harrill (History)
Ohio State University Professors
April 13, 2017
Magic & Witchcraft at the Dawn of Modernity: Why Then & What Now?
Professor Matt Goldish
Samuel M. and Esther Melton Chair in Jewish History
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Climate Change, the Anthropocene and the Deep History of the Earth
John Brooke
Humanities Distinguished Professor of History, The Ohio State University
Thursday, October 13, 2016
American Ways, An Overview of Four Centuries of Consistent National Behavior
Steve Millett
Thursday, September 22, 2016
The History of "Radical" Movements in Islam
Jane Hathaway
Professor, Ohio State University
Monday, April 18, 2016
How the History of Poindexter Village Challenges Popular Stereotypes about Public Housing
Patrick Potyondy
PhD Candidate, The Ohio State University
Monday, March 21, 2016
Making Sense of the Madness: Race, Racism, and Politics in the Age of Obama
Hasan Kwame Jeffries
Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University
Monday, January 25, 2016
"I had the Best Childhood": Growing up in Ohio Orphanages in the 20th Century
Birgitte Søland
Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Devouring the Earth: How British Food Changed the World
Chris Otter
Assoc. Professor of History
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Caravans: Indian Merchants on the Silk Road
Dr. Scott Levi
Professor, Department of History, Ohio State University
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Russia and the Race for the Arctic
Dr. Nicholas Breyfogle
Associate Professor
Friday, April 10, 2015
Is Google 'Making us Stupid?' A Deep History and Future of the Internet
David J. Staley
Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University
Friday, October 24, 2014
Was the Qing Dynasty "China"?
Ying Zhang
Assistant Professor
Saturday, November 2, 2013
U.S.-Iraqi Relations in Historical Perspective
Peter Hahn
Professor and Chair of History
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Capital Cities in the Aftermath of Empire: Athens and Sofia Compared
Theodora Dragostinova
Assistant Professor
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Dangerous Aesthetics: The Fascist and Nazi Appeal to Emotion
Alan Beyerchen
Associate Professor of History
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Aristocratic Values in Republican Rome
Professor Nathan Rosenstein
Friday, September 16, 2011 - 4:00pm to 5:30pm