The story of a Chinese missionary from Arkansas who propagated the belief in ethnic nationalism to the Chinese kicks off the spring’s Evenings with History lectures at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7.

The spring lectures, sponsored by the University History Institute, will be in the Ottenheimer Auditorium in the Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St. in downtown Little Rock. Parking is available at the museum’s adjacent parking lot at Third and Cumberland streets.

“The Heavenly History of the Han, or How a Liberal Baptist from Green Forest, Arkansas, Taught Racial and Ethnic Nationalism to the Chinese,” will be presented by Dr. Jeff Kyong-McClain, assistant professor of history.

In the early years of the 20th century, Chinese – or “Han” – nationalists were searching for ways to convert a tradition-bound and multicultural empire into a modern nation-state. In the minds of these nationalists, foreign missionaries were a big part of China’s problem.

Kyong-McClain will talk about the case of one missionary in particular, Arkansan D.C. Graham, who propagated the belief in the superiority of the Chinese over people in southern China.

Other Evenings with History events scheduled this spring include:

• “A Brief History of Human Rights,” presented by assistant professor of history, Charles Romney. Some claim humans have always had rights that cannot be traded, infringed, or given away. Others argue the international organizations and American officials invented the concept of human rights in the 1970s to further political agendas. Romney will explore the political and intellectual stakes in the debate over the origins of human rights on Tuesday, March 6.

• “Counter-Insurgency: The Lessons of Alexander the Great” presented by Dr. Edward Anson, professor of history. During Alexander the Great’s conquering expedition, which took him from Greece to Egypt to the Punjab, he endured only one serious insurrection against his established authority. In his lecture, Anson will discuss this strategic failure and examine the brutal counter-insurgent  measures employed by Alexander to deal with resistance to his authority on Tuesday, April 3.

The University History Institute, an Arkansas nonprofit, is an organization of private citizens interested in history and in community support for UALR.

Annual subscriptions for the Evenings with History series are $50 per person; a joint subscription for two is $90. A Fellow of the Institute subscription at $250 offers admission to all six lectures and fellows-only special presentations. The series also offers a lifetime membership for $1,000.

Subscribers to the series help support historical research for students. Presenters donate their time, and the University History Institute uses all proceeds from the series to encourage research at UALR through the purchase of library materials.

For more information, contact the Department of History at 501-569-3235.