The Blue Humanities: Reimagining America’s Maritime History

Join us at the Museum for an illustrated talk by Associate Professor of History at the University at Albany, State University of New York, Christopher L. Pastore, who will give a fast-paced tour through America’s maritime history and explore how and why sea stories have changed over time. During the early twentieth centuries maritime topics drew considerable interest, but by the second half the ocean’s past had fallen from favor. More recently, historians, geographers, and literary scholars have breathed new life into salty subjects, filling shelves with books organized around the idea of the “blue humanities.” Intended for fishermen, sailors, and beach combers alike, this lecture explores why the field has faced this ebb and flood—and provides a winter reading list in the process. WHEN: Sunday, August 30, 2026 TIME: 4 p.m. PLACE: In person at the Museum and virtual via zoom Join Zoom Webinar Christopher L. Pastore Christopher L. Pastore is Associate Professor of History at the University at Albany, State University of New York, where he teaches courses in environmental history, early America, and the Atlantic world. He holds a Ph.D. in American History and M.S. in college teaching from the University of New Hampshire, an M.F.A. in nonfiction Creative Writing from New School University, and a B.A. in Biology from Bowdoin College. He is the author of Temple to the Wind: The Story of America’s Greatest Naval Architect and His Masterpiece, Reliance (Lyons Press, 2005) and Between Land and Sea: The Atlantic Coast and the Transformation of New England (Harvard University Press, 2014). He is currently writing an environmental history of the Atlantic world with working title of A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things: A Natural History of the Sea from the Bottom Up. PHOTO CREDIT: Winslow Homer, Boys in a Dory, 1873, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Join from PC, Mac, iPad, or Android: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88457097810 Phone one-tap: +16694449171,,88457097810# US +16699009128,,88457097810# US (San Jose) Join via audio: +1 669 444 9171 US +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 719 359 4580 US +1 253 205 0468 US +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 564 217 2000 US +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 646 931 3860 US +1 689 278 1000 US +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 305 224 1968 US +1 309 205 3325 US +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 360 209 5623 US +1 386 347 5053 US +1 507 473 4847 US Webinar ID: 884 5709 7810 International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdL7znbQy7