All upcoming World History programs

Located in Naples, Italy, the Capodimonte Museum is one of the largest museums in Italy. Housed in the museum is the Galleria Nazionale, which features one of the best repositories of Neapolitan painting and decorative art as well as works by Caravaggio, Raphael, Titan, El Greco, Artemisia Gentileschi, and many others. Italian Renaissance art expert Rocky Ruggiero highlights this lesser-known art museum’s impressive and expansive collection. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Women pilots were denied the chance to fly when the United States entered the Second World War. But in 1942, Great Britain welcomed 25 young aviators who became the first American women to command military aircraft. Author Becky Aikman highlights the stories of several of these “spitfires,” their exciting and often-terrifying work, and how they broke new ground off duty as well.

The Mogao Grottos of China—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—are often referred to as an “art gallery in the desert.” For more than a thousand years, kings, merchants, monks, and nuns called the nearby desert oasis of Dunhuang home. Not far from town they sponsored the excavation and decoration of nearly 500 caves with paintings that depicted Buddhist iconography, local folktales, and life along the Silk Road. Historian Justin M. Jacobs traces the history of the grottos, analyzes the paintings, and discusses the controversial fate of a secret “cave library.”

Cleopatra would have been a social media star if she lived today. Known for charisma, she was more renowned for her intellect and her ruthless determination to rule. She embraced both Caesar and Mark Antony as protectors and lovers when the need arose and murdered siblings to gain power. Historian Barry Strauss highlights Cleopatra’s complex role as an absolute ruler at a crucial moment when Romans and Egyptians fought for domination.

Art played a pivotal role during the dawn of European natural history in the 16th and 17th centuries. Advancements in scientific technology, trade, and colonial expansion allowed naturalists to study previously unknown and overlooked insects, animals, and other beestjes: “little beasts” in Dutch. Curators of the National Gallery of Art’s exhibition “Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World,” share an exhibition overview and a closer look at the artists and ideas that it highlights. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Death is the one thing all humans throughout history have in common, and yet it is still a mystery. Robert Garland, a professor emeritus of classics, explores the death-related beliefs and practices of a range of ancient cultures and traditions, including Egyptian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Etruscan, Greek, Roman, early Christian, and Islamic. Garland puts himself in the sandals of ancient peoples and imagines how they sought—in ways that turn out to be remarkably similar to ours—to assist the dead on their journey to the next world and to understand life’s greatest mystery.

When Elisabeth of Austria married Emperor Franz Joseph and Eugénie of France married Napoleon III, they became two of the most famous women of the 19th century. Young and beautiful, each represented a new kind of empress—one who rebelled against traditional expectations and restrictions. Historian Nancy Goldstone discusses the lives of these two glamorous women and how they played a pivotal role in ruling their realms.

The island of Murano has remained the heart of Venetian glassmaking since the late medieval period. Today, a blend of centuries-old traditions and contemporary experimentation keeps this extraordinary art form alive. Art historian Jennie Hirsh traces the rich history of Murano glassmaking, examines influential modern artisans and workshops, and offers insights into the best places in Venice to experience glass artistry today. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Galileo, Leonardo, Newton, and Tesla revered Archimedes of Syracuse—an engineer who defied the world’s most powerful army and a mathematician who knew more in 212 B.C.E. than all Europe would for the next 17 centuries. Novelist and science writer Nicholas Nicastro shines a new light on Archimedes’ life and work to reveal an ambitious, combative, and fiercely competitive man who is far from the aloof, physically inept figure of historical myth.

Across time and culture, knitting is not only beautiful and a practical art but also a commentary on the society it comes from. Explore attitudes toward gender through knitted objects in the Smithsonian collection.