The program will offer insightful conversations featuring leading historians who will shed light on the rich complexities of Indiana’s past while helping to spark conversations on how the past is helping to shape the state’s present and future.
With the approach of Indiana’s bicentennial in 2016, Madison will present an overview of the state’s past, from Hoosier pioneers through the Civil War to the 21st century.
“Jim Madison knows who we are because he knows who we, as Hoosiers, have been,” said David Bodenhamer, professor of history and executive director of the Polis Center in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. “We are excited that he will be our inaugural ‘History Talks!’ speaker, especially as we approach Indiana’s 200th anniversary. I cannot imagine a better guide to understanding what we might become as a state.”
Madison’s free presentation, designed to “engage the past, in the present, about the future” begins at 4:30 p.m. at Cook Theatre, 1202 N. Central Ave. He will sign copies of his books, which include “Hoosiers: A New History of Indiana”; “Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885-1977”; “The Indiana Way: A State History”; and “A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America;” from 5:30-6:30 p.m.