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Click here to watch Tamara Thornton’s talk before the live Zoom Q&A session.

Join us for a virtual edition of our Faculty Fellows talks! This lecture series brings current UB humanities research out into the community. Tamara Thornton’s talk, “Globes and the Global Imagination in Early America: Objects, Ideas, and People” is available to watch online, in advance of the live Zoom Q&A session on Friday, October 23rd at 4pm.

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We live in an age of global communities and economies, but when and how did Americans begin to think globally? Thornton turns to globes themselves, exploring a long-lost world when globes were rare, came in celestial and terrestrial pairs, and were used not as spherical maps, but to calculate how the experience of seasons, sunlight and darkness, and the night sky varies around the globe. Well into the 1800s, globes offered distinctive modes of imagining other places, with implications for thinking about and engaging with distant peoples.

A cultural historian of early America, Tamara is the author of three books, most recently, Nathaniel Bowditch and the Power of Numbers: How a Nineteenth-Century Man of Business, Science, and the Sea Changed American Life (2016). Her current book project, Globes and the Global Imagination in America: A Study of People, Ideas, and Objects, explores the intellectual context, social settings, and cognitive impact of celestial and terrestrial globes. Her article on globes and race theory appeared in the William and Mary Quarterly.

NEW! While we cannot provide complimentary wine and light fare in this time of virtual gatherings, we can provide a themed recommendation for each talk! This month we asked wine and spirit purveyor Paula Paradise of Paradise Wines for a “globe” themed recommendation.

2018 Poggiosecco Chianti, “Poggiosecco was established in 1967 and was one of the first members of the Consorzio del Chianti. In 2001, Poggiosecco was completely restructured and began the path towards certified organic farming. Incredible value Chianti, and possessing the savory spice of a well-aged Riserva. Medium body, plenty of ripe black cherry, hints of leather and a plush texture. Quite engaging Sangiovese with just a dash of Malvasia Nera. Certified organic farming practices.”

Get it here.

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