Deerfield, Mass. (June 5, 2019) ---   Historic Deerfield will present a free summer lecture series, entitled "Going Global," on Thursday evenings in July. The lectures will be held at the Deerfield Community Center, 16 Memorial Street, Deerfield, Mass., on July 11, 18, and 25, beginning at 7 p.m.

The advent of trade in the 1500s between Asia, Western Europe, and the Americas would connect individuals across thousands of miles in a shared universe of consumer choice and consumption previously unimaginable. Traders, makers, and artists helped fuel a seemingly inexhaustible Western enthusiasm for India cottons, Chinese silk, porcelain, and especially tea. These Asian exports came to define elite taste while bolstering social and economic aspirations of the emerging middle classes of Europe and the Americas. This lecture series explores the global encounters that launched a world economy, fueled a consumer revolution, and spurred dreams of cosmopolitanism among Westerners captivated by an imagined Asian aesthetic.

Thursday, July 11

Made in China: The Rise and Fall of the Old Canton Trade

Stephen R. Platt, Professor of History, University of Massachusetts

Thursday, July 18

Made in the Americas: The New World Discovers Asia

Dennis Carr, Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Thursday, July 25

Marketplace of Revolution: American Consumers in a World of Goods

Timothy H. Breen, William Smith Mason Professor of American History Emeritus

at  Northwestern University  and a James Marsh Professor at Large at the  University of Vermont

  

Historic Deerfield is an authentic 18 ^th-century New England village in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts. Its historic houses and world-famous collection of early American decorative arts open doors to new perspectives that inspire people to seek a deeper understanding of themselves, their communities, and the world. 

Media Contact:

Laurie Nivison

Director of Marketing

(413) 775-7127

[email protected]