Calendar of Events
Geneseo provides residents and visitors with a wide variety of activities that appeal to all ages and interests. Please browse through our many events, which we attempt to keep as current as possible. Our sister website, www.geneseony.org, contains schedules of governmental organizations and meetings.
If you would like to submit an event, click HERE.
Please join us for a talk by Dr. Ben Railton, a professor of English from Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts, who is the author of We the People: The 500-Year Battle over Who is American (Rowan, 2019). This event is co-sponsored by American Studies and the History Department. Books will be available for purchase.
The Constitution begins with those deceptively simple words, but how do Americans define that “We”? In this talk based on his new book We the People, Ben Railton will argue that throughout our history two competing yet interconnected concepts have battled to define our national identity and community: exclusionary and inclusive visions of who gets to be an American. From the Revolutionary period’s debates on African American slavery to 20th-century controversies around Filipino Americans and Japanese internment and 21st-century fears of Muslim Americans (among many other eras and histories), time and again this defining battle has shaped our society and culture. Carefully exploring and critically examining those histories, and the key stories and figures they feature, is vital to understanding America—and to making sense of the Trump era, when the battle over who is an American can be found in every significant debate and moment.
Student-led protests in Hong Kong; violence in Kashmir; the tumult of Brexit; calls for impeachment in the U.S.: in 2019, issues of nationalism, sovereignty, and the rise of authoritarian populism dominate the news cycle. How can we make sense of these events, their causes and consequences? Join the History Department for a panel in which participants will offer a historical vantage point to better understand the contemporary moment. The discussion will feature History faculty members Sarah King, Ling Ma, Peter Samuels, and Yvonne Seale, with Prof. Justin Behrend moderating. Join us for a stimulating conversation.
Scheduled Reviews
September 5 – The Second Mountain, a Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks; reviewers: Lucille and Joseph Kane
October 3 – The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson; reviewer: Retired Marine Col. Gary Anderson
November 7 – A Reconsideration of the Power of Suspicion by Dick Keyes; reviewer: Rev. Sterling W. Carroll
December 5 – The Man Who Caught the Storm, the Life of the Legendary Tornado Chaser Tim Samarow by Brantley Bargrove; reviewer: Wadsworth Library Director Deb Emerson
Reviews are scheduled on the first Thursday of each month and are presented in the Community Room of Wadsworth Library (lower level).
• The program begins at Noon preceded by a brown bag lunch at 11:30.
• This is the 45th year of the series.