University of Texas at Austin Professor of History Antony Hopkins will discuss the current international crisis in comparison to two centuries of British history at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 17. His talk, part of the Verne Moore Lecture Series, will take place in the Welles-Brown Room in Rush Rhees Library on the University of Rochester's River Campus.
The lecture, titled "The New American Empire: Now Recruiting?" will look at the aims, endeavors, and problems of Great Britain from 1815 through decolonization, noting that similarities to the present cast doubt on claims that the international problems of today are unique. Hopkins notes that historians need to make their voices heard in the current debate over the shape of the world in the 21st century.
Hopkins received his doctorate from the University of London in 1964 and has taught at a number of British and American universities. He is the recipient of the Forkosch Prize awarded by the American Historical Association for British Imperialism, which he co-wrote with P.J. Cain. Hopkins is a Fellow of the British Academy and is the former Smuts Professor of Commonwealth History at Cambridge University. Hopkins, whose main interests lie in the history of the non-western world and European imperialism, has also published many works, including books and articles in scholarly journals.
Hopkins will also speak on "Globalization of World History" on Friday, April 18, with participants of a global studies conference at the University of Rochester. The seminar-style talk will take place at 2 p.m. in the Gamble Room in Rush Rhees Library.
The Verne Moore Lectures are sponsored by the Department of History and have been funded by a gift from University alumnus Verne Moore, Class of 1950, since 1996. For more information, call (585) 275-2052.