Speaker: Kristina R. Gaddy
Scholars Gild welcomes author and historian Kristina R. Gaddy to speak about her just-published book, Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History (W.W. Norton 2022). In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo’s key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion.
Watch this fascinating talk here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oZRLLZMLVw

Speaker: John Schoonover
Frank E. Schoonover (b. 1877), a student of Howard Pyle, was a prolific illustrator and artist from the Brandywine School of art. For this Scholars evening, John Schoonover, Frank’s grandson, will give us a preview of his book celebrating these photos, this artist and his important legacy.
Watch this fascinating talk here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oZRLLZMLVw

Speaker: James Tevebaugh
Defined by the era of their professional practice, this talk will compare the talents of Price and Furness: the impact of their creative inventiveness and the success of their respective architectural designs. Watch here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEv9beBY3Yk

When New York Times columnist Paula Span found out she was going to become a grandmother, she went in search of the perfect grandparenting guide but came up short. Where was Dr. Spock for the silver-haired set? Watch this interesting interactive conversation brought to you by the Arden Scholars Gild here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MazvIjGbWdk

Author Greer Firestone discusses his historical fiction book, “Alexei and Rasputin.” Available on our new YouTube channel at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6TLQ3huiRs Look for future recordings of Scholars evenings to be posted on our Facebook page and on the Arden Club.

Ric Gillespie’s writings on the Earhart disappearance have appeared in the organization's journal TIGHAR Tracks and in the Naval Institute’s Proceedings and Naval History and in LIFE Magazine. The organization’s Earhart research and expeditions have been the subject documentaries produced by NBC News, ABC News, the Discovery Channel. Ric’s book, Finding Amelia – the True Story of the Earhart Disappearance, was published in September 2006 by the Naval Institute Press.

Watch this fascinating talk on YouTube

Hunter Loft describes how the Brandywine changed as colonial mills and factories used the power of the river to drive their industries. The first bank-to-bank dam was built by Samuel Kirk in 1720 at North Adams Street in downtown Wilmington, Delaware.

Learn more on this YouTube lecture archive!

Our speaker, Jeana Carey discusses recent outstanding exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Block Museum at Northwestern University, and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. Their rich collections of art, ceramics, precious metals, metalwork, books, fabrics, and musical instruments of the Sahel region on the southern shores (edges) of the Sahara desert in central Africa.

Listen and watch this fascinating talk here!

Our speaker, Seamus McGraw traced for us the extensive and devastating myths we've constructed to shield us from our own cultural culpability for this ceaseless phenomenon. The myths are pernicious and are now inextricably woven into the fabric of our popular culture, a culture that prizes fame but does not distinguish it from infamy, turns grievance and victimhood into a commodity, and is awash with deadly hardware that has become cultural totems, and in some cases are even fetishized.

Watch this video and learn more about how you can contribute to the solution to this tragic cultural trend.

It is quite remarkable that Shakespeare’s plays are continually staged throughout the world over 400 years after his death. There is a huge variety of interpretive choices that can be found in those texts for readers, directors, designers, and actors. These different interpretations can be a help or a hindrance to understanding the text. April’s Scholars Gild talk, in collaboration with the Arden Shakespeare Gild, guides us through some of those interpretations and explores why we continue to “find ourselves” in Shakespeare’s plays and in the settings in which they are staged.
Linda Emerick is a retired teacher of English language arts and Shakespearean Studies. 
Watch this fascinating talk on examining the choices made in various productions of Shakespeare’s As You Like It on both stage and film within the previous twenty-five years. 

Our speaker, Anthony Gonzon, the coordinator of the Bayshore Initiative for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), filled us in on the details of what the state with its local partners have been doing to conserve, restore, and promote the lands and waters of the Delaware Bayshore. Watch this fascinating talk about parts of the Delaware Shoreline that you might not have ever known about.

In this archive video, Dr. Hooper from Thomas Jefferson University discusses the history of vaccination, different types of vaccines, and why the current Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are the most advanced and safest yet.
Watch on the Scholars Gild YouTube Channel

Our speaker Scott Kushner explored the Judeo-Christian religious tradition, its principles, and rituals, as a complete psychological meaning system.  Whatever meaning system one uses, it's important to understand its components and how they relate to one another.  A lively dialog follows the initial presentation.
Watch on the Scholars Gild YouTube Channel here.

The recording of one of the latest Scholars evening talks with James Schwaber is now available on our new YouTube channel at this link: https://youtu.be/hbGdZiBCmmk Look for future recordings of Scholars evenings to be posted on our Facebook page and on the Arden Club.