Join us for an engaging "Lunch with the Libraries and Museums" event as Dr. Mackenzie (Mack) Zalin, Librarian for Classics, Comparative Thought and Literature, Jewish Studies, and Modern Languages and Literatures in the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University, presents a fascinating lecture tracing the deep historical connections between Johns Hopkins University and Heidelberg University.
Discover how Johns Hopkins drew inspiration from the oldest university in Germany from its founding in 1876—a relationship that helped define modern American higher education over that last 150 years. Dr. Zalin will delve into archival stories of international scholarly exchange, the influence of German educational ideals, and the ways in which key figures shaped research, teaching, and knowledge production on both sides of the Atlantic. Attendees will learn how the legacy of Heidelberg and other German research universities laid the foundation for innovation at Johns Hopkins, impacting fields from humanities to medicine and beyond.
This lecture is a reprise of one given during one of our Hopkins Journeys travel programs. To learn more about the travel programs on offer, which often feature insightful lectures by Hopkins experts, please visit https://alumni.jhu.edu/learn/travel-experiences.
Dr. Mackenzie (Mack) Zalin is Librarian for Classics, Comparative Thought and Literature, Jewish Studies, and Modern Languages and Literatures in the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University. He earned a PhD in Classical Studies from Duke University and a Master of Science in Library Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Zalin oversees collection development, reference, and instruction in the Sheridan Libraries for French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, and Yiddish languages and literatures.In addition to his regular duties at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Zalin serves as the chair of the Advisory Board of the American Office of L’Année philologique to the Society for Classical Studies. He is also an ex officio member of the Société Internationale de Bibliographie Classique. His recent scholarship evinces an array of interests in early modern Spanish and Latin, as can be seen in co-authored publications in the Bulletin of the Comediantes and Grey Room.
Event DateFriday, October 3, 2025Start Time: 12:00pm EDTEnd Time: 1:00pm EDT
Hopkins at HomeLivestream
ContactOffice of Alumni RelationsJoe LetourneauLifelong Learning(800) JHU-JHU1hopkinsathome@jhu.edu
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