Schedule 2009-2010

Sept 17, 2009

Prof Paul George

Professor of History
Miami-Dade College

Historian to the Historical Association of Southern Florida

Miami:The Magic City – Part II

Prof Paul George will continue his discussion from last year covering from the pre-Miami\ SE. Florida., which stretches back nearly 11,000 years, to the Miami that followed the railroad’s entry in 1896. The last part of the presentation will be the international city that has emerged in the past 50-60 years

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Oct 15, 2009

Prof. David Graf

Professor, Department of Religious Studies
Univ. of Miami

New Evidence for Alexander the Great’s Campaign.

Between 336-323 BCE, Alexander the Great’s campaign united the world between the Aeagean Sea and the Indus River.   The primary sources for this spectacular accomplishment are Greek literary sources written between the time of Augustus and Trajan.  But in recent years, new evidence from the Eastern perspective has emerged—Aramaic documents, cuneiform texts, and coins, complementing the Western sources.  A brief review of the campaign and this new evidence will be discussed.

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Nov 19, 2009

Prof. David W. Kling

Professor, Department of Religious Studies
Univ. of Miami

We are All Protestants:
The Protestant Reformation and the Making of the Modern World

The 16th century European Protestant Reformation represents a watershed in the history western civilization—so much so that some scholars view this movement as the precursor to the modern world. In the words of one historian, “To people of all nationalities the first Protestants bequeathed in spite of themselves a heritage of spiritual freedom and equality, the consequences of which are still working themselves out in the world today.”  In this wide-ranging lecture I will discuss the world of the Reformation, examining not only religious issues but the social and cultural consequences of the Protestant movement.

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Jan 21, 2010

Prof John Fitzgerald

Professor, Department of Religious Studies
Univ. of Miami

The early Roman period of the Holy Land - part II

Prof Fitzgerald will continue his presentation from last year covering The Holy Land from the time of Pompey (63 BCE) to the fall of Jerusalem (70 CE), a fascinating but fairly complex period politically.

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Feb 18, 2010

Prof. Dexter E. Callender

Professor, Department of Religious Studies
University of Miami

A survey of the inhabitants of the Ancient Near East:
a group which includes early contributors to the Bible.

The Ancient Near East refers to early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East.  It covers the time period from the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium BCE until the region’s conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE.  The socio/political landscape, including the major movement of people, influenced the culture of this region whose inhabitants included the authors of the Bible.

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March 18, 2010

Robin Bachin, Ph.D.

Charlton W. Tebeau Associate Professor of History,
University of Miami
Director, American Studies Program University of Miami
President, Society for American City and Regional Planning History

Travel, Tourism, and Urban Growth in Great Miami

Prof Robin F. Barkin current academic interest, and the subject of her present book, examines the environmental and architectural history of South Florida.  This intellectual curiosity led her to create a web-based archive that includes images, documents, letters, and other ephemera related to the role of travel and tourism in shaping urban growth in Miami.  The history and the archives will be the subject of her presentation.

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April 22, 2010

Prof. Otávio Bueno

Professor, Department of Philosophy
University of Miami

Evidence in Medicine

Medical practice relies on evidence as a central feature of its pursuits. But what exactly is evidence for a certain medical result? In this talk, I will explore the changing conceptions of evidence from the history of medicine, from the early Greek empiricist school of medicine (3rd century BC) through William Harvey’s discovery of the blood circulation (17th century) to the contemporary conception of evidence-based medicine. As the conceptions of evidence change, the very conception of medicine changes as well.

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May 20, 2010

Dr Harvey Siegel

Professor and Chairman
Department of Philosophy
Univ. of Miami

Objectivity and Rationality

What is it for knowledge – especially scientific knowledge – to be objective?  Are any of our beliefs, claims and judgments either objective or rational?  Can they be?  Do objectivity and/or rationality require a ‘neutral,’ ‘perspective-less,’ or ‘transcendent’ perspective?  If such a perspective is impossible in principle to achieve, as many contemporary philosophers argue – and, therefore, all our beliefs, judgments and claims are relative or framework-bound – in what sense, if any, can those beliefs, judgments and claims be either objective or rational?

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Schedule 2008-2009

1) Sept 18, 2008 – Prof. Marilyn Gottlieb-Roberts – Hx of Art (MDCC)

A Cultural History of North American Art: An Illustrated Lecture

Emeritus Professor in Art and Art History

Miami Dade College

Some may regard as unpleasant the basic discovery of a cultural crossroads – the fact that others are quite capable of creating ways of living that are entirely different from our own.  Such cultural collisions are, however, integral to many of history’s most creative moments. 

North America’s immigrant history has created some of the specific habits and dreams that shape the Globalized world where we now live.  In her illustrated talk, Prof. Gottlieb-Roberts presents selected art works to mirror and evoke some defining moments in North America’s socially collaborative history.

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 2) Oct 16, 2008 – Prof Daniel L. Pals 

James Frazer and The Golden Bough.

Senior Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Science,

Professor, Department of Religious Studies and Department of History

Univ. of Miami

James George Frazer (1854-1941) was a pioneering figure whose wide-ranging researches helped create the modern discipline of anthropology.  His fame rests chiefly on The Golden Bough, an extensive study of magic and religion that applied what he called “the comparative method” to beliefs, rites, and everyday practices that he felt were common to classical civilization, European folklore, and surviving primitive cultures around the world.  He was also greatly taken with Darwin’s theory of evolution, and introduced into his study a scheme of cultural, or social, evolution that in his view was the natural extension and application of Darwin’s views on animal development to human affairs.  Frazer’s wide research and provocative ideas continue to exercise a subtle influence on popular opinion, on academic discussion of such matters as cultural diversity, and on the modern debates over the relationship between science and religion

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3) Nov 20, 2008 - Dr. Michael Di Liddo – Hx of Music (MDCC)

Jazz: America’s Classical Music

Professor; Jazz Studies

Department of Arts and Philosophy

Miami Dade College

An introduction to what takes place during a small group jazz performance.  Topics to be covered include swing, improvisation, roles of piano, bass, drums, and horns, some principle styles and performers.

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 4) Jan 15, 2009 – John Fitzgerald

The early Roman period of the Holy Land

Professor, Department of Religious Studies

Univ. of Miami

The Holy Land from the time of Pompey (63 BCE) to the fall of Jerusalem (70 CE), a fascinating but fairly complex period politically, will be discussed.

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5) Feb 19, 2009 – Prof. Dan Graf

Title: “Petra: One of the new Seven Wonders of the World.”

Professor, Department of Religious Studies

Univ. of Miami

Petra was recently designated as one of the new wonders of the world. It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture. UNESCO has described it as “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage.” The Roman author Pliny the Elder identified Petra as a centre of caravan trade. The Biblical references to Petra are not clear but Rekem, its native name, appears in Jewish literature.

This puzzling and marvelous wonder of the world will be discussed by Prof. Dan Graf who is one of the archeologists immersed in the archaelogical work at this site in modern Jordan.”

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6) March 19, 2009 - Prof Paul George – Hx of Miami

Miami:The Magic City

Professor of History

Miami-Dade College

Historian to the Historical Association of Southern Florida

Prof Paul George will discuss the pre-Miami\ SE. Florida., which stretches back nearly 11,000 years. The next topic will be the Miami that followed the railroad’s entry in 1896. The last part of the presentation will be the international city that has emerged in the past 50-60 years

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7) April 16, 2009 – Prof Harvey Siegle –

“Thomas Kuhn and the Nature of Science”

Professor, Department of Philosophy

Univ. of Miami

In his groundbreaking The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn challenged the common conception of science as a rational, objective, evidence-based activity, and of scientific development as gradual, linear, and progressive.  His alternative conception, deeply informed by the history of science, portrays scientific practice as governed by ‘paradigms’ that control scientific practice and perception, but that are periodically overthrown during periods of ‘revolutionary science.’  In this talk I will introduce the main features of Kuhn’s views, illustrate them with examples of several scientific revolutions, and briefly discuss some of the radical philosophical implications of his view.

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8) May 21, 2009 – Prof Jose Manuel Hernandez

Georgetown Univ.

“Caudillismo” in Latin America: its origin and growth.

Prof Jose Manuel Hernandez

Emeritus Professor,History Department

Georgetown Univ.

Caudillismo is a socio-political phenomenon that relies on personality cult, appearing first in Latin America in the IXX century during the course of South American Wars of Independence.  Caudillos took it upon themselves to attain power over society and place themselves as its leader. In this position of power, the Caudillo has been a significant factor in the history of Latin America.