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Historic: lecture

2.30 - 3.45

The Third Annual Weiss Seminar Lecture Series

“Philadelphia in the Age of Revolution”

Taught by Penn State faculty member Sean X. Goudie, Associate Professor of English

The capital of the United States in the late eighteenth century, Philadelphia was a vibrant, if volatile, social and cultural location in the Atlantic World. Its mercantile, diplomatic, and military relations were extensive and wide-reaching, and the city’s involvement in radical revolutionary movements, most notably the American Revolution and the Haitian Revolution, has been the topic of much scholarly discussion across disciplines in recent years. Philadelphia was also a leading site in the advancement of scientific and medical knowledge and creative home to many important authors, playwrights, painters, musicians, and other artists. This interdisciplinary seminar will ponder the following questions: What social and cultural transformations unfolded during the age of revolution in this major North American city? How might such changes be linked to developments in the wider Atlantic world that shaped them and to which they responded? Students and members of the public will gauge possible responses to these questions by considering works in a variety of cultural forms,including paintings, poetry, plays, essays, political and scientific tracts and treatises, histories, and the novel in its early “American” incarnation. They will do so in the context of a full schedule of seminar talks and discussions led by Penn State faculty members as well as invited guests from universities and research centers located in the United States and Europe, renowned experts from disciplines as diverse as English, history, theater, political science, art history, medicine, and law.

Today’s Lecture:

“Re-Finding the Founding: Reconsidering Philadelphia in the Age of Revolution”

Presented by:

Sean X. Goudie
Associate Professor of English
Penn State

The Weiss Seminar is generously funded by the Josephine Berry Weiss Chair in the Humanities Endowment.

Weekly meetings (Thursdays, August 27-December 10, inclusive), featuring lectures by distinguished invited guests, are free and open to the public.

Details

COST:

Free

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Institute for the Arts and Humanities
WEBSITE: http://www.events.psu.edu/cgi-bin/cal/webevent.cgi?cmd=opencal&cal=cal383