Virtual Symposia

June 8-12: "Evidence: the Use and Misuse of Data" 

This weeklong symposium will explore the nature of evidence, reflecting Benjamin Franklin’s many different uses of information and data throughout his life. Sessions will be held on June 8-12 at 1:00pm and 3:00pm EDT. 

Registration is required to attend this event. To register and view the full program, please visit the event website. 

Virtual Discussions

Recordings of past programs may be viewed on the Society's YouTube channel.

Upcoming Programs:

Wednesday, June 3, at 1:00pm EDT 

New Directions in the History of Science -- A Virtual Discussion with the 2019-2020 Long-Term Fellows

Details and registration here.

Friday, June 5, at 1:00pm EDT

New Directions in the History of the Americas -- A Virtual Discussion with the 2019-2020 Long-Term Fellows

Details and registration here.

Past Programs:

May 20: Assembling the Dinosaur: Fossil Hunters, Tycoons, and the Making of a Spectacle -- A Virtual Discussion with Lukas Rieppel

April 22: Behind the Census -- A Virtual Discussion with Kenneth Prewitt

April 17: At the Bridge: James Teit and an Anthropology of Belonging -- A Virtual Discussion with Wendy Wickwire

April 1: Billy G. Smith, Ship of Death: A Voyage That Changed the Atlantic

March 27: Pandemics in Perspective: A Virtual Roundtable Discussion

Lunch Lectures

Upcoming Programs:

Check back soon for more programs!

Past Programs:

May 13: Gabriel Paquette and Gonzalo Quintero, Spain and the American Revolution: New Approaches and Perspectives.

April 29: Gina Surita, 2019-2020 APS Program in the History of Science Fellow, "The Mysterious Muscle: Experimental Epistemologies of Force and Fuel." [In partnership with the Science History Institute. Details here.]

April 7: Paul Myles, The Rise of Thomas Paine and the Case of the Officers of Excise

Science on Tap

Past Programs:

Monday, April 27, 7:00pm EDT

Untapped at Home, Netflix Watch Party: Janine Boldt and Emily Margolis, National Treasure

SOLD OUT - Details and registration here. 

More information about Science on Tap, here

Virtual Brown Bags

Virtual Brown Bags are open to APS Staff, Fellows, and area scholars. All Virtual Brown Bags meet at 11:00am EDT on Zoom. To receive the link to attend, contact Adrianna Link, Head of Scholarly Programs, at alink@amphilsoc.org.

Spring 2020:

March 24 – Molly Nebiolo (2019-2020 Digital Humanities Fellow/Northeastern University), "Visualizing Early Colonial Philadelphia"

March 31 – Lisa Ruth Rand (2019-2022 Haas Fellow, Science History Institute), "Neocolonial Space: Orbital Allocation in the Age of the New International Economic Order, 1971-1979"

April 14 – Anisha Gupta (APS Assistant Conservator of Archival Materials), "To Counterfeit is Death: Benjamin Franklin's Anti-Counterfeiting Papermaking Techniques for Colonial Currency"

April 21 – Susan Laquer (APS Archivist), "Evidence of Genius: Barbara McClintock's Scientific Ephemera"

April 28 – Lise Puyo (University of Pennsylvania), "Speaking to Kin: Abenaki Wampum Belts at Chartres"

May 5 – Baligh Ben Taleb (2019-2020 The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow/University of Nebraska), “Reckoning with the Legacy of American Settler Colonialism: Treaty Claims and Western Shoshoni Quest for
Justice”

May 12 – Vedran Duančić (2019-2020 François André Michaux Fund Fellow/Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science, Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences), “Scientific Diaspora as a Resource in the Struggle Over Agrobiology in Socialist Yugoslavia”

May 19 – Sean Fraga (Princeton University), "They Came on Waves of Ink”

May 26 – Joanna Hurd (Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC)), "Have You Hurd? Introducing Paper Conservation Intern Joanna Hurd"

Indigenous Studies Seminar 

Inspired by the work of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR), the APS Library & Museum's Indigenous Studies Seminar Series serves scholars and researchers in the Greater Philadelphia area working on projects in or aligned with Native American and Indigenous Studies.

The seminar meets monthly from 3:00-5:00pm EDT via Zoom. Most meetings center around a pre-circulated paper, which will be made available for download two weeks prior to the event. To attend, please contact Adrianna Link, Head of Scholarly Programs, at alink@amphilsoc.org

Spring 2020: 

April 24 – Cindy Ott, University of Delaware, "Ranch Work: Conflict, Compromise & Collaboration Among Historic Rivals," chapter 1 of Biscuits & Buffalo: Reinvention of American Indian Culture in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries 

May 15 – Peter Olsen-Harbich, The College of William & Mary, “"Quand ung homme a desservi mort” (When a Man Deserves to Die): Encountering Coercion in the Medieval Eastern Woodlands, 1501-1611”

At Home Activities

Check out the APS at Home page for crafts and activities. 

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Explore our Pinterest page with activities we love and other activities from our Education department. 

Career Chats

This series brings you real conversations with APS staff on their careers and education and how they came to work at the Society.

A Malignant Tale - Yellow Fever, 1793 Epidemic

This lesson and activity use letters and sensory experience to talk about Philadelphia's 1793 yellow fever epidemic.

Letter Writing - Templates for Social Life

Lessons and activities that explore 18th century (and modern) letter writing practices. 

Editing the Declaration

Learn about copies of the Declaration of Independence, from how they were edited and when to what that all means. 

Other Educator Resources

Though you can't visit the Museum or Archives, our collections are still searchable!