The Historian in Society

Lecture Series

Lonnie Bunch – “”The Power of the Past through the Creation of the Museum”

“The Power of the Past through the Creation of the Museum”

The Historian in Society Lecture Series

Lonnie Bunch, Director, National Museum of African American History and Culture

Director Bunch joins the Luskin Center for History and Policy to discuss the role of the historian in shaping today’s society. Director Bunch has been the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture since 2005. He has written widely on topics in American history, including the Black military experience, all-Black town in the American West, and the American presidency. He formerly served as the curator of history at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles, where he organized award-winning exhibitions about Black Los Angeles.
Parking Information can be found at
transportation.ucla.edu/campus-parking

April 16, 7:00 pm

Place: Fowler Museum Lenart Auditorium

RSVP: rsvpluskin@history.ucla.edu

 

Black History in Dark Times: Reflections of an Historian Featuring Peter James Hudson

“Black History in Dark Times: Reflections of an Historian”

Historian in Society Lecture Series

Peter James Hudson, UCLA Departments of African American Studies and History

First published in 1938 as the dark clouds of fascism amassed over Europe,
CLR James’ classic study The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San
Domingo Revolution, described the efforts of enslaved Africans to found a Black
Republic – Haiti – at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Yet it was written
with another historical struggle on the horizon: the coming decolonization of
Africa. Given the multiple historical coordinates of book, The Black Jacobins –
and CLR James himself – offers us any number of lessons on the writing of
history and the historian in society. This talk will explore some of these lessons,
especially as they pertain to the writing of Black history during our current perilous times.

Jacob Soll, “The Reckoning: Intellectual History and an Unexpected Journey into Contemporary Politics,”

Jacob Soll (USC), “The Reckoning: Intellectual History and an Unexpected Journey into Contemporary Politics,” The Historian in Society Lecture Series

Jacob Soll (USC History)

Monday, April 22, 5:00-7:00 pm

Bunche 6275

RSVP: rsvpluskin@history.ucla.edu

In 2014, Jacob Soll published The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations. Quite unexpectedly, the book became a central tool in public financial politics in Europe, in particular, the Greek Debt crisis. Professor Soll works closely with the Greek government, the European Commission, the Portuguese government, world financial leaders, and other stakeholders, and he has become a close working friend of the Prime Minister of Spain and of former prime ministers of the UK.

A best-seller, particularly in Asia, The Reckoning took the author into the heart of European politics, but also into the center of world finance and financial reform. This talk will explain how history can be used as an effective language for political and financial reform.