Join UCDC as we talk with Author, John Dinges, about his book

CHILE IN THEIR HEARTS: The Untold Story of Two Americans Who Went Missing after the Coup

In 1972, two idealistic young Americans, Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi, arrived in Chile to participate in President Salvador Allende's socialist and democratic revolution. A year later they were secretly executed while Chile's military, with U.S. backing, deposed Allende. Following a sham investigation and cover-up, a Chilean defector leveled a stunning but ultimately false accusation: a CIA agent was in the room when one of the killings was ordered.

The defector's tale inspired the acclaimed 1982 film Missing and established U.S. involvement as the accepted narrative. But CHILE IN THEIR HEARTS exposes the tale as a fabrication and leads us to a more intriguing reality. Renowned investigative journalist John Dinges scoured U.S. and Chilean archives and interviewed new witnesses to reveal the true story of the killings and the compelling adventure of the two Americans' lives against the backdrop of U.S. intervention in Chile.

RSVP: https://ucdcevents.my.canva.site/chile-in-the-their-hearts-event?mc_cid=510d1f6e89&mc_eid=edce9aae53

In this workshop, sponsored by the National Gallery of Art and led by senior educator Nathalie Ryan, we will learn about the National Gallery’s research partnership with Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology at the University of California-Berkeley, director of The Greater Good Science Center, and author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life (2023). His research shows that experiences of awe help support mental and physical wellbeing, open us up to greater creativity and deeper empathy, and connect us to our shared humanity.  

This will be an interactive workshop, with conversation and activities. For example, using Georgia O’Keeffe’s A Black Bird with Snow-Covered Red Hills (below), we’ll explore how the artist synthesizes the natural world and invites us to think about the essentials of life. 

Enter the museum at 600 Constitution Ave NW and ask the Information Desk attendant to direct you to Ground Floor Gallery 06; Nearest Metro stations are Archives Navy Memorial (Yellow/Green) and Judiciary Square (Red); Traffic and parking can be challenging on the National Mall in springtime so please allow extra travel time

RSVP: https://forms.gle/wJunYH7jowpPHkhM7

Join us and other UCDC Students for an evening at Nationals Park on May 23rd against the San Francisco Giants! The game starts at 6:45 pm. 

Tickets may be purchased using the link below until May 20, 2025. Don't miss out this opportunity to see a game and mingle with current UCDC students!

https://www.gofevo.com/event/UCnight2

Join us on June 3rd to Welcome the Cal in the Capital Students to DC

On Tuesday, June 3rd, please join us for our annual Welcome Party for the terrific Cal in the Capital (CITC) students who have come to work in internships in the DC area for 10 weeks this summer.  This year is the 60th Anniversary of CITC, so we really want to celebrate their arrival this summer!! 

The Welcome Party is on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at 6:00 PM, at:

UCDC, 1608 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036.  (Food will be served.)

Come and talk to the students about their internships and share information with them about your job/career.  They always have questions about the work experiences and careers of alumni, as well as how they got into their career paths.  And the students’ enthusiasm for their internships and being in DC is contagious. The more alumni who attend, the more the students will learn from us.  This event is always a lot of fun!

We will have a special “behind the scenes” tour of the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute https://mci.si.edu/about, located in Suitland Maryland. This will be a fascinating look at activities not normally seen by the public that the Smithsonian Institution undertakes to preserve our cultural heritage. 

The Museum Conservation Institute is the center for specialized technical collection research and conservation for all Smithsonian museums and collections. Staff members combine their knowledge of materials and the history of technology with state-of-the-art instrumentation and scientific techniques to provide technical research studies and interpretation of art, as well as anthropological and historical objects. The Institute conducts studies of objects using analytical techniques to elucidate their provenance, composition, and cultural context and improve the Smithsonian’s conservation and collections storage capabilities.  

The Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative is an important component of the Institute. Its mission is to protect cultural heritage threatened or impacted by disasters and to help U.S. and international communities preserve their identities and history. 

The tour will include scientific and conservation labs where we will see the work of scientists, historians, and artisans to restore and maintain art and artifacts.

Express your interest in participating by completing this link: https://forms.gle/9tg3S1bXtxpCZtUP9

 As the MCI is not normally open to visitors, our group will require advance clearance for entry (i.e. there will be more forms to fill out later). Details will be provided as they become available to those expressing interest now. So please don’t wait until the last minute to express interest!