Florida Southern College is bringing nationally renowned speakers to Lakeland to talk about the history of Florida, from Cuban heritage in Key West to Elvis Presley and his influence on the state.
The Florida Lecture Series has been held annually since 1997 at FSC’s campus. This year, it began on Sept. 25, will run through April and feature six speakers.
James M. Denham, professor of history and director of the Center for Florida History at Florida Southern, explained the goal of the series.
“The purpose is to explore the various facets of Florida,” he said. “Florida history, Florida culture, Florida public policy, anything to do with the Florida experience.”
The events cover a wide range of topics, including music, biology, race and representation, and culture and ethnicity.
But the objective, Denham said, is to condense larger subjects and tie them back to Florida.
“We try to find national issues which connect to Florida,” he said. “Or not even necessarily national issues, but just Florida issues that always seem to kind of relate to the nation as well.”
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By doing this, Denham hopes that out-of-state students also feel compelled to attend the lectures.
Eleora Funk, an English and Southern Studies double major, believes the events are relevant to all students.
“It's great for those who are coming from out of state to better familiarize themselves with Florida,” Funk said. “But also from someone who grew up in Lakeland, it's interesting to learn about things that are local history.”
All events are free and open to the public, and will take place in Florida Southern’s Branscomb Auditorium.
This year’s lineup features nationally acclaimed scholars, including multiple award-winning authors from different fields of study.
The series kicked off in September with author Gilbert King speaking about a 1987 murder and subsequent trial.
“We began with a Pulitzer Prize winner, that’s pretty good,” Denham said. “We’re following up with Bob Kealing, who is an expert in the history of Florida music. Then we have an English scholar coming in from Nebraska, an environmentalist, and one of America’s leading scholars of the U.S. Supreme Court. That’s a pretty good lineup, I’m real proud of it.”
For the next event, slated for Oct. 9, six-time Emmy Award and two-time Edward R. Murrow Award-winning author Bob Kealing will talk about Elvis Presley’s influence in Florida and how the state helped jumpstart his career in both music and film.
Other upcoming speakers include:.
- Nov. 6: Joy Castro "Recovering a Lost Social World: Cuban Key West in the 1910s."
- Jan. 22, 2026: Jason Vuic "A Town without Pity: AIDS, Race, and Resistance in Florida's Deep South."
- Feb. 19: Vernon Burton "Justice Deferred: Race in Florida and the United States Supreme Court."
- April 2: Hilary Swain "Archbold Biological Station: The Foundation, Fascination and Future of a Florida Treasure."
The series is sponsored in part by WUSF.
