'History Comes Alive' during Oakland University lecture series

The Oakland University Department of History is inviting those with a love for glancing back at history across the world to its annual “History Comes Alive” lecture series, which is now underway.

In its 12th year, the annual lecture series gives listeners a unique insight into an array of historic events and topics, offering multiple serious – and sometime not-so-serious – journeys into the past.

This year, members of OU’s History Department will deliver presentations on topics ranging from a bloody war in Bolivia to 1870s labor strikes in America to conspiracy theories involving President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, and much more.

While admission to the lecture series is free, staff members request that participants reserve a space. To reserve a seat, call (248) 370-3511 or email jkessler@oakland.edu.

“This series provides a forum for OU historians to share their research and knowledge with the broader community,” said Todd Estes, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of History at Oakland University. “I never have to twist arms to get my colleagues to give talks because they enjoy the chance to connect with people in the community who love and appreciate history as much as we do. In short, the History department sees this program as a valuable and mutually beneficial example of community outreach and engagement--part of what makes Oakland a vital university.”

“History Comes Alive” lecture dates include:

• Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m., Oakland Center Banquet Room A: Associate Professor Weldon Matthews will discuss the presidential administration of John F. Kennedy and how its decisions affected the Kurds of Iraq during the Cold War.

• Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m., Oakland Center Banquet Room A: Assistant Professor Erin Dwyer will speak on the conspiracy to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln, the death of John Wilkes Booth and how conspiracy theories can function as popular history.

• Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, at 7 p.m., Oakland Center Gold Rooms ABC: Associate Professor Derek Hastings will hold a lecture on the complex relationship between the political aims of Nazi leadership from 1933-45, and the personal desires of individual Germans for meaning and transcendence before and during World War II.

• Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, at 7 p.m., Oakland Center Banquet Room A: Using the 1873 labor strikes in Taftville, Connecticut as a backdrop, Special Lecturer Jeff Powell will discuss the challenges faced by labor in the Gilded Age and unions’ continued struggles today.

• Tuesday, March 8, 2016, at 7 p.m., Oakland Center Gold Rooms ABC: In an introduction to Bolivia’s Chaco War and the war’s aftermath, Assistant Professor Elizabeth Shesko will speak of the experiences of soldiers in the Bolivian Army and how the war affected the South American country’s society.

The history lecture series, made possible by founding sponsors John and Annette Carter, is funded by the Knudsen Family Foundation, the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.