What's new this month?

Wildlife producer Mike Gunton offers Smithsonian Associates members an inside look into the making of the new 10-part series “The Americas,” which showcases the wonders, secrets, and fragilities of the world’s great supercontinent. Created by BBC Studios Natural History Unit in association with Universal Television Alternative Studio and narrated by Tom Hanks, it reveals the spectacular landscapes of Earth’s most varied landmass—the only one to stretch between both poles. Executive producer Gunton shares insights into the innovative filming techniques, scientific breakthroughs, and unique challenges encountered while capturing some of nature’s most elusive moments.

Attracted by the light and the beauty of the Mediterranean coast, artists including Renoir, Chagall, Matisse, Dufy, Bonnard, and Picasso settled in the French Riviera. Art historian Joseph Cassar discusses the importance of the South of France as an inspirational location for artists and surveys the major museums highlighting their works in the fabled region. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1 credit)

The island nation of Sri Lanka historically was vital for connecting the eastern and western networks of Indian Ocean trade. As a result, foreign ideas mixed with indigenous cultures to create vibrant traditions of art and architecture. Art historian Robert DeCaroli explores some of Sri Lanka’s most remarkable works of art, placing royal palaces, expansive Buddhist monasteries, and grand temples in their historical context and examining the paintings and sculptures that adorned these spaces. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

For millennia, astonishingly diverse forms of body art have been produced by cultures throughout the world. Some employed tattoos for therapeutic or cosmetic purposes, to mark special life achievements, or to assert social identity. Others marked the body with symbols intended to promote fertility, protect themselves from malevolent spirits, or carry them safely into the afterlife. Lars Krutak, an anthropologist and host of the Discovery Channel’s “Tattoo Hunter,” shares his life’s journey to understand how tattoos “make” the people who wear them.

You already know Jack, the boy who grew a beanstalk to the clouds and stole a giant’s riches, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Jack Tales are a massive category of stories about a poor boy who triumphs repeatedly despite overwhelming odds. Folklorists Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman examine key differences between these stories as they’re told in the U.S. and the U.K. and explain why Jack resonates as a hero.

From her early painted works on paper to more recent, large-scale installations and wildly popular Infinity Rooms, the career of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama has been defined by bold experimentation and artistic vision. Art historian Jennie Hirsh explores the evolution of Kusama’s work, examining her signature motifs—flowers, polka dots, and mirrors—through the lenses of Pop Art, feminism, conceptualism, and personal introspection. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland, around 1822, young Araminta Ross faced adversity from an early age. These hardships transformed “Minty” into Harriet Tubman, the most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad, and her childhood knowledge of the geography of the Eastern Shore played a key role in her success in ferrying more than 70 people to freedom by 1860. Historian Anthony Cohen reveals the saga of Tubman’s life by exploring significant sites in the region where she was raised—and that shaped her dreams of freedom and equality.

Scottish architect, designer, and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a major figure in the Glasgow Style, Scotland’s version of Art Nouveau and Symbolism. Mackintosh believed architects were responsible for every detail of the design of their buildings, and his interiors reflect this approach. Cultural historian Robyne Calvert introduces Mackintosh’s work, with a focus on the influential collaborative interiors he created alongside his wife, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

San Francisco’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area contains an outdoor museum of fortifications that waited for wars that never happened and enemies that never came. Historian John A. Martini surveys a history that spans from the Presidio’s colonial-era fortifications to a chain of Nike missile sites armed with nuclear weapons during the Cold War. All obsolete, the fortifications’ legacy is the stunning parklandsof the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Music and the visual arts have always been intertwined. For millennia, artists have obsessed about how to represent music’s invisible beauty, just as composers have sought to render art’s vibrant colors in pure sound. From Chagall’s set and costume designs for opera to artists who were also instruments, lecturer and concert pianist Rachel Franklin explores the intimate relationship between the visible and invisible arts in a 4-session series.