Free history and archaeology events
Talks, seminars, tours and exhibitions about the human past, from ancient objects and medieval manuscripts to the twentieth century, opened to the public by universities.
332 upcoming events, 65 of them you can join online
Coming up
Events 1–20 of 321, soonest first
Tuesday 27 October
- 4:15 PM-6:00 PM in OsloIn person
Hibernia rescribens: Latin historiography in seventeenth-century Ireland
University of Oslo · GM 452
Erlend Østrem Myklebust (University of Oslo)
- 6:00 PM-7:30 PM in BeirutIn person
Jewish and Greek Communities in Egypt: Entrepreneurship and Business Before Nasser (I.B. Tauris, 2016)
American University of Beirut · Conference Room, College Hall, 3rd Floor, AUB
Audience: Alumni,Faculty,Graduate,Public,Undergraduate Event Type: Book Discussion
- 1:00 PM in ProvidenceIn person and online
JCB Reads: Tatiana Seijas on American Metropolis: The Making of Mexico City
John Carter Brown Library · Virtual.
Join us on Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 1 p.m. as the JCB Reads series continues! Launched during the 2024-5 academic year, JCB Reads offers former JCB fellows the opportunity to share their recent…
- 12:00 PM in MinneapolisOnline
When did the Middle Ages come to an end? Mentality, Superstition, and the Modern Mind
College of Liberal Arts
Are modern humans really as enlightened as we think, or are we far more “medieval” than we care to admit? Join Professor Anatoly Liberman (Dept of German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch) for a Dark…
- 12:15 PM-1:30 PM in AustinIn person
Rogue States: The Making of America’s Global War on Terror
Clements Center for National Security · RLP 1.302B, Patton Hall
On October 27, 2026, the Clements Center for National Security will host “Rogue States: The Making of America’s Global War on Terror,” with Matthew Frakes, historian of U.S. foreign relations and…
- 6:00 PM in the UKIn person
Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History: Benjamin Moser in Conversation with Ahdaf Soueif
SOAS University of London · BGLT, SOAS Gallery
This Centre for Palestine Studies book event brings into conversation the Pulitzer Prize winner Benjamin Moser and the award-winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif.
- 12:00 PM-1:15 PM in CaliforniaIn person
Maisha Winn, "Futuring Black Lives: Independent Black Institutions and the Literary Imagination," in conversation with Adam Banks
Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity · Building 360, CCSRE Conference Room, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE), 450 Jane Stanford Way Building 360, Stanford, CA 94305
Learn more about Professor Winn's work in this May 2026 article, "AERA Presidential Address 2026 The Future Is Here: Historical Signals in Education Research."
- 7:00 PM-9:00 PM in the UKIn person and online
Making sense of the many Chinas: a dialogue between Xiaolu Guo and Jeffrey Wasserstrom
SOAS University of London · Wolfson Lecture Theatre (SWLT), Paul Webley Wing
As different as Xiaolu Guo's personal, story-driven Everyday Tang is from historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom's Everything You Wanted to Know about China, both are short new books by versatile authors, and…
- 2:00 PM-3:30 PM in CalgaryIn person
Film Viewing: Canada's Dark Secret
University of Calgary · G43A
Canada's Dark Secret (2017): In 1996, the last residential school in Canada wasclosed down, bringing to light horrifying stories about the methods used to sever indigenous children from the influence…
- 4:00 PM in ChicagoIn person
BOOK TALK Gautham Rao on”White Power: Policing American Slavery”
Law, Letters, and Society · Social Science Research, Tea Room
The Forum on Law and Legalities workshop series welcomes Gautham Rao back to the Unviersity of Chicago to discuss his book “White Power: Policing American Slavery”.
- 4:30 PM in ChicagoIn person
Tova Ganzel - Jerusalem under Persian Rule: Rethinking the Center of Yehud
Joyce Z. and Jacob Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies · The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC), Breasted Hall
A lecture by Tova Ganzel (Bar-Ilan University), the Joyce Z. Greenberg Short-Term Visiting Scholar of Jewish Studies.
- 4:00 PM-5:30 PM in RiversideIn person
Governing Food Shortages in a Rice- Surplus Colony: Famine Prevention in Southern Vietnam
College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences · CHASS Interdisciplinary South, 1111
The Department of History & SEATRiP Program presents:
- 6:00 PM-7:30 PM in CaliforniaIn person
Organizing in Solidarity at Stanford: Past & Present
Asian American Activities Center · Asian American Activities Center, Courtroom, 524 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, CA 94305
The A3C, Asian American Studies, Okada, etc… Did you know these were all established by student activism? The Rainbow Coalition, a multiracial advocacy coalition in the 1980s, demanded these…
Wednesday 28 October
- 5:30 PM-7:00 PM in CanberraIn person
2026 Robert O'Neill War Studies Lecture: The Transformative War: Australia in the war of 1939–45
Australian National University · China in the World Lotus Theatre
The dominance of the Anzac legend in Australia’s political culture has tended to relegate World War II to a secondary place in national memory. So, too, has the ambiguity associated with the overseas…
- 10:00 AM-4:00 PM in the UKIn person
Beyond the Label: Rethinking food poverty and Identity
University of Hertfordshire · Westmill Community Centre
Explore a thought-provoking interactive exhibition examining how people experiencing poverty and food insecurity are portrayed by society - and how we represent ourselves beyond the…
- 10:30 AM-11:30 AM in the UKIn person
From Suet Pudding to Healthy Ageing
University of Hertfordshire · Westmill Community Centre
Join us for a live suet pudding cooking demonstration inspired by Florence Petty, the famous "Pudding Lady" of early twentieth-century London. Learn how simple, affordable…
- 11:00 AM-12:30 PM in the UKIn person
Exploring Environmental Philosophy via the folklore of plants
University of York · Berrick Saul Building, Campus West
Join Clare for a guided walk and talk to explore the folklore and history of native and naturalised plants growing in Britain and how humans have connected with them through the centuries.
- 11:30 AM-12:00 PM in the UKIn person
Printing Press Demonstration
University of Manchester · The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, Manchester, Gtr Manchester, M3 3EH
We showcase the use of our antique and fully functional Colombian printing press. Based on the collections, the prints are free to take home after the demonstration.
- 1:00 PM-2:30 PM in the UKIn person
Colonial statues, the Empire, its racism, and their afterlives
University of York · Derwent College, Campus West
'Don’t Blink' is an autoethnographic lecture using Doctor Who’s Weeping Angels to examine how British heritage, statues, and imperial racism haunt modern public spaces.
- 3:00 PM-3:30 PM in the UKIn person
Rylands Discovery Tour
University of Manchester · The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, Manchester, Gtr Manchester, M3 3EH
During our Rylands Discovery Tours our staff will travel with you through the library spaces and share the fascinating history of the founding of the library, the breadth of the rare collections held…
On now: exhibitions and series
Running over several weeks.
- Broken, Burnt, Buried: Ritual Lives of Objects in Ancient Egypt · University College Londonuntil Saturday 13 February 2027
- Two Centuries Here: The UCL200 exhibition · University College Londonuntil Saturday 31 July 2027
- Centenary Heritage Tours · University of Readinguntil Thursday 10 December
- UCL200 Walking Tour · University College Londonuntil Wednesday 2 December
- From Concept to Icon: A celebration of UCL’s Wilkins Building by the Survey of London · University College Londonuntil Wednesday 28 July 2027
- Exhibition: Unlocking the Vaults · University of Birminghamuntil Friday 13 November
- Schinkel in Manchester 1826-2026 · University of Manchesteruntil Saturday 2 January 2027
- [Exhibition] A History of Black Theatre in Manchester 1827-2025: Celebrating presence · University of Manchesteruntil Friday 30 October
- New Exhibition: The North Revisited · University of Manchesteruntil Sunday 24 January 2027
- Remembering the Disappeared · ESRC Festival of Social Scienceuntil Friday 18 December
- How We Got Here: A Series On Contemporary Russian Political History · King's College Londonuntil Tuesday 8 December
Recently held
The kind of history and archaeology events universities open to the public. These have finished.
- Tue 27 OctPast event"Houses of health" and monastic infirmaries: communal health in premodern South and Southeast Asia · SOAS University of London
- Tue 27 OctPast eventFeeding Children in Hard Times · ESRC Festival of Social Science
- Tue 27 OctPast eventTrade that ties: Trade communities over two centuries (1833-2025) · Geneva Graduate Institute
- Mon 26 OctPast event‘The Golden Age’ or ‘the Dark Time of the Plots’: Iraq and Syria in the 1950s | Matthieu Rey · Stanford University
- Mon 26 OctPast event1776 Across the Americas: A Hemispheric History from the Collections of the John Carter Brown Library · Brown University
Where these events come from
- Stanford University (31)
- Brown University (29)
- University of Chicago (27)
- University College London (14)
- University of Manchester (14)
- Central European University (13)
- SOAS University of London (11)
- Trinity College Dublin (11)
And 52 more universities: see them all in the catalogue.