(COLUMBIA, Tenn. – Sept. 30, 2019) - - -Columbia State Community College presents its thirty-third annual “Celebrating Our American Heritage” lecture series featuring professors from the college’s history and English departments. Lectures will start in October on Wednesdays from 4 – 5:15 p.m. in the Ledbetter Auditorium.

On Oct. 9, Dr. William X. Andrews,retired Columbia State history professor, will present“The Transcendentalists.” Andrews will address the subject of American Transcendentalism, the intellectual movement of the 1830s and 1840s that was inspired by such thinkers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller. Andrews will focus on the ideas that influenced the Transcendentalists and the impact Transcendentalism had on politics, education and on future generations of political and social activists. 

Dr. Anna Duch, Columbia State’s resident medieval historian and assistant professor of history, will present“Dr. Duch Ruins American History, Part II” on Oct. 23.Duch takes a fresh look at American history and giggles. Come equipped with a sense of humor and an open mind; American history isn't always what you think.

On Nov. 6 Luke Truxal, Columbia State adjunct professor of history; Dr. Barry Gidcomb;Columbia State professor of history; and Duch will present “We Choose to go to the Moon”to commemorate the 50^thanniversary of Apollo 11 and 12 with a discussion on what it took for the U.S. to plant its flag on the moon. Dr. Stuart Lenig, Columbia State professor of communications and drama, examines how the moon landings were originally portrayed in the media.

Inaugurated in 1987, “Celebrating Our American Heritage” is an annual series of presentations sponsored by the Columbia State Department of History designed to illuminate the past and enhance understanding of the present.