EMSI LA2026 "Beyond the Exhibition: A Virtual Conversation on ‘The Declaration in Progress'"

Event details Date: Thursday, October 1, 2026 Time: 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Location: Online Cost: Free Type: Lecture / Talk / Workshop Campus: Other Location Department: Early Modern Studies Institute (EMSI), USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute Audience: Students, Alumni, Faculty/Staff About this event Join us for a virtual conversation about the Natural History Museum's new exhibition, The Declaration in Progress, moderated by Assistant History Curator Gaila Sims. Members of the exhibition team -- Lauren Cooper (Exhibition Developer), Danelle Rubio (Exhibition Designer), and Beth Werling (Senior Collection Manager) -- will take us behind-the-scenes of the curatorial process. Attendees will hear stories behind the featured objects and see how individual actions have continually shaped our nation's history. LA2026 is presented by the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute. It brings together members of the public and humanities scholars for eighteen conversations about museum and cultural exhibitions at six partnering institutions in the Los Angeles region, including the Autry Museum of the American West, The Huntington, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes / El El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and USC Libraries. Each exhibition frames conversations about the anniversary of 1776 from the perspective of California and the West. Each discussion will focus on specific items from one of the partner exhibitions, encouraging public discussions about national identities, relationships between regional and national narratives, participating in democracy, and human relationships to the land. The EMSI LA2026 Project has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Official event details: https://calendar.usc.edu/event/beyond-the-exhibition-a-virtual-conversation-on-the-declaration-in-progress