A lecture by Dr. Sandra Rebok
This spring, the Goethe Pop Up is exploring the relationship between the arts and sciences. Join us for another installment in this ongoing examination as we host historian Dr. Sandra Rebok in Kansas City for a lecture on German scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.
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In 1804, famed German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) arrived in the United States after a five-year exploration voyage through the Spanish colonies. Here, he met with the most prominent scholarly and political circles in Philadelphia and Washington. He also met several times with President Jefferson in the new capital and provided the US government with geographical and statistical material that he had taken from the Spanish archives in Madrid and Mexico. After the "Louisiana Purchase" in 1803, and diplomatic disputes between the United States and Spain regarding the borders of this territory, Jefferson was particularly interested in Humboldt’s expertise. In her lecture, Dr. Rebok explores the questions of how useful these documents actually were for Jefferson’s vision for the West, and why Humboldt felt entitled to freely dispose of this delicate knowledge.
Dr. Sandra Rebok has over twenty years of experience in Humboldt scholarship, she is the author of several books and numerous articles on Humboldt as well as the editor of three of his works in Spanish. Her last book discusses his intellectual exchange with Thomas Jefferson (
Jefferson and Humboldt: A Transatlantic Friendship of the Enlightenment, 2014) and her forthcoming monograph analyzes his position between the Spanish Empire and the expanding United States (
Humboldt’s Empire of Knowledge: From the Royal Spanish Court to the White House, 2020). Currently, she is preparing her actual book project that analyzes the networks of knowledge Humboldt established within the US and his impact on the development of sciences in this country (
Expanding the Frontiers of American Science: Alexander von Humboldt's Networks of Knowledge).
This lecture will take place at the Kansas City Public Library’s Truman Auditorium on Thu, Apr 16th at 6:30pm. Doors open at 6pm. A reception following the talk will give attendees the opportunity to meet and discuss the evening’s topics with Dr. Rebok.
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