The Difference a Date Makes: “9/11” versus “1973” in the Global History of NYC

Vita Nova 100, Scripps College

DARA ORENSTEIN, George Washington University September 11, 2023, 5:00-6:00pm Vita Nova, Scripps College RSVP HERE It seems safe to say that the Twin Towers stand for globalism. Ever since they fell on the morning of September 11, 2001, they have endured as something much larger than local landmarks. Whether abstracted on magazine covers, sanctified in street […]

The U.S. and the Struggle for International Justice in Ukraine

Hampton Room, Scripps College

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in an unprecedented alignment of international actors supporting accountability processes. And the atrocities committed in Ukraine have been extensively documented. But achieving accountability through international mechanisms like the International Criminal Court is more challenging than it seems. Drawing on his recent experience as a policy advisor in the Pentagon, […]

Representing Gender in Court: Juridical Women in the Time of Boccaccio’s Madonna Filippa (Decameron 6.7)

Vita Nova 100, Scripps College

Boccaccio's character Madonna Filippa brilliantly defends herself in court against an adultery charge—and dodges a cruel capital punishment. Readers have long assumed that since medieval Italian women had no place in court, Filippa's story must be an ironic parody. This presentation inserts Boccaccio's heroine into her historical context of medieval northern Italy, where several women […]