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Legacies of the Great War (a History Talk podcast)

December 2017 marked the 100-year anniversary of U.S. entry into World War I. But, as the world commemorates the centennial of the war, U.S. events have been few and far between. Why is the war remembered so differently in Europe versus the United States, and what legacies might we be forgetting?

Magic and Witchcraft at the Dawn of Modernity: Why Then & What Now?

We may think of magic and witchcraft beliefs as relics of some bygone dark age. In this discussion we will learn that magical ideas flourished with particular success precisely at the dawn of modern times. We will also see that the European and American witch hunts did not occur in the middle ages but precisely during the scientific revolution. Why might that have been the case? And why should we still be paying close attention to occult mentalities in our own time?

Making the Cause Common: Race and Nation in the American Revolution

In this video Professor Rob Parkinson, SUNY-Binghamton, discusses how political and communication leaders in the American Revolution linked anti-British stances to colonial fears and prejudices regarding enslaved Africans and Indians, in “Making ‘the cause’ common: Race and Nation in the American Revolution.” This was a presentation of the Center for Historical Research in the Department of History at Ohio State University.

Malaria Redux: The History and Ethics of Malaria Eradication and Control Campaigns in Tropical Africa

During the 1950s, colonial malariologists, in conjunction with experts from the World Health Organization, set up malaria eradication pilot projects across tropical Africa. They deployed new synthetic insecticides such as DLD, HCH, and DDT, and new antimalarials, such as chloroquine and pyrimethamine, in an effort to establish protocols for eradication. These efforts 'protected' some fourteen million Africans. Yet by the early 1960s, the experts concluded that eradication was not feasible, and the pilot projects were disbanded.

Measuring Quality of Life Among Ancient Roman Populations

Presented by Kim Bowes (University of Pennsylvania) on Dec. 2, 2011 at the Center for Historical Research, Ohio State. This talk will focus the problems of applying data from the ancient world to modern metrics for quality of life, and offer some solutions, looking particularly data on the rural poor. The Roman rural poor are typically assumed to have had very low quality of life by any number of indeces, particularly climatic and agricultural factors that lead to a precarious subsistence living, low life expectancy, and only very distant ties to a market economy which limited income.

Mendeleev's Periodic Table

In March 1869, Mendeleev delivered a full paper to the Russian Chemical Society spelling out the most significant aspect of his system, that characteristics of the elements recur at a periodic interval as a function of their atomic weight. This was the first iteration of the periodic law. Come along with us as we explore the history of the periodic table of elements.

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