Great Revolutionaries Lecture Series
Throughout history, there have been outstanding leaders and change-makers that have guided societies through times of great difficulty and triumph. Explore the stories behind a diverse mix of revolutionaries who brought dramatic change to their societies from ancient times to today. Highlights include the first king to unify Egypt, a queen of the British Celtic Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire, and a leader in the current quest for Native American rights.
Length: 46:45
The Earliest Reformer? Urukagina of Girsu and His New Order
As society became more complex and cities developed in southern Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq) around 5000 years ago, the opportunities for abuse of power increased. The written record is largely silent on this topic for hundreds of years, except for an ...
Length: 49:53
MANSA MUSA: A Revolutionary view of Education & Wealth In 14th Century Mali
Around 1312 CE, Kankan Musa, Sundiata’s nephew, assumed the throne of Mali—one of the most important empires in West Africa long before the arrival of Europeans. He took the royal name Mansa Musa. It is during Musa’s reign that Mali reached a n...
Length: 49:52
Emiliano Zapata From Many Angles
Emiliano Zapata, the Mexican revolutionary general, is known for his varied and passionate pursuit of justice. He famously drafted the Plan of Ayala (1911), which declared President Francisco I. Madero incapable of fulfilling the goals of the revolut...
Length: 1:06:35
Narmer: The First King of Upper and Lower Egypt?
Narmer was a pivotal individual who lived during the development of Egypt’s state and its rise of kingship. His burial was likely at Abydos. A number of artifacts relating to him have survived from this period and they show increasing use of hierog...
Length: 48:25
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Indian Revolution: Fighting Caste, Gender, Sexuality and Forging a New Womanhood
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (1891-1956) was an important revolutionary political thinker, anti-caste activist, intellectual, architect of India’s constitution, and formidable leader of modern India. Ambedkar famously called for the annihilation of the hierar...
Length: 58:02
Octavian, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium
By the first century BCE, Rome had gained control of the entire Mediterranean, but those conquests had been accompanied by a century of civil war that witnessed the assassination of politicians on all sides of the political spectrum. At one point, th...
Length: 58:16
“Conquer or Die”: Boudica’s Revolt of 60-61 AD
Nearly twenty years after the Roman conquest of Britain a revolt broke out among the Iceni, a tribe inhabiting modern Norfolk. The revolt was led by Boudica, the warrior queen whose story has become the stuff of legend. In this lecture, we try to sor...
Length: 41:18
Tribal Sovereignty and Indian Self-Determination
As a leader in the Native American rights movement, John Echohawk will discuss how the federal Indian policy terminating Indian tribes and forcing Indians to assimilate changed beginning in 1970 with the founding of the Native American Rights Fund an...
Length: 42:06
The Museum as a Revolutionary Icon
Museums have the power to respond to the present moment, exploring the contours of our humanity and revolutionizing our perspective on the world. From their earliest incarnations, museums have used their collections to bring resonance and context to ...