Events
Events from the Lepage Center
Free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. Follow us on Twitter at hashtag #LepageAtVU.
Tuesday, Oct. 2
Annual Kephart Lecture
The Education of Ms. Grace Halsell: An Intimate History of the American Century
7pm, Villanova Room, Connelly Center, Villanova Campus
Keynote speaker: Robin D.G. Kelley, Distinguished Professor and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History, UCLA
A Texas-born journalist, Grace Halsell, granddaughter of Confederate slave owners, daughter of a once wealthy cattle rancher and Indian fighter, began her career as a correspondent (domestic and foreign) for several Texas papers during the 1940s and 50s, eventually worked as a staff writer for President Lyndon B. Johnson, before setting out in 1968 to chemically darken her skin and live as a black woman for a year. Known as the female John Howard Griffin, she published the best-selling Soul Sister: The Journal of a White Woman Who Turned Herself Black and Went to Live and Work in Harlem and Mississippi (1969). She would go on to write twelve more books, including an expose about living as a Navajo and working as a domestic in a California suburb (Bessie Yellowhair), a book about passing as an undocumented worker from Mexico and crossing the border three times (The Illegals), and several other unrelated texts. In her final masquerade, she passed as the person she was probably supposed to become: a right-wing Christian fundamentalist.
Hosted by the Department of History at Villanova University
Friday, Oct. 19
Villanova on the Hill
12pm in Washington, D.C.
The Lepage Center will participate in the second Villanova on the Hill in Washington, D.C., with a program on history and policymaking. Villanova on the Hill is a week-long immersion program in Washington for a select group of Villanova students interested in politics and public affairs.
Open to Villanova students participating in Villanova on the Hill
Monday, Oct. 29
Histories of Democracy - Part 1
American Perspectives: Promises & Shortcomings
6pm, Driscoll Auditorium, Driscoll Hall, Villanova Campus
Free and open to the public
Scheduled to appear
- Joanne Freeman, Professor of History and American Studies, Yale University and co-host of Backstory Radio
- Jonathan Lai, Journalist, Philadelphia Inquirer covering issues of absentee ballots, gerrymandering, and digital privacy
- Paul Rosier, Mary M. Birle Chair in American History, Villanova University and scholar of Native American politics and history
Moderated by Jason Steinhauer, Director, Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest, Villanova University
Monday, Nov. 12
Histories of Democracy - Part 2
Global Perspectives: Revolutions & Empires
6pm, Driscoll Auditorium, Driscoll Hall, Villanova Campus
Free and open to the public
Scheduled to appear
- Hibba Abugideiri, Associate Professor of History, Villanova University and scholar of Middle East history
- Melissa Feinberg, Professor of History, Rutgers University and scholar of Communism, the Cold War and human rights
- Julia Gaffield, Assistant Professor of History, Georgia State University and scholar of the Haitian Revolution
- Maia Otarashvili, Deputy Director of the Eurasia Program, Foreign Policy Research Institute and co-editor of the 2017 volume Does Democracy Matter?
Moderated by Paul Steege, Faculty Director, Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest, Villanova University